Today we celebrate our Independence Day!

[American Eagle]

Canadians, go away for a few hours.

A speech that must be heard every few years:


I have to work today, but I'll be buying an American flag sticker/pin and wearing it all day. It's against dress code at my job, but some things must be done anyway.

Have fun and celebrate your freedom, guys! What are your plans??

[Shennifer]

I think me and my family and a few visiting friends are going to watch the fireworks and hang out for awhile. That should be fun

[Marvin D.]

I'm legally Dutch. Just saying.

That said, I'm going to mow the lawn and clean the kitchen

[TigerintheShadows]

We should have celebrated something on the 2nd, too.

[Caitie]

Happy fourth, everybody!!!!

I won't be doing much today, we will be getting in our swimming pool probably. our town's fireworks were yesterday, on the third. Even though it was raining, they still had them. I got a bit wet

[Laurie]

Happy Fourth!! Happy Birthday America!!

[cellogirl]

I have to be at my friend's wedding rehearsal I'm playing the violin and cello in her wedding

[snubs]

I don't think we are doing much of anything. But hey, I am proud to be an American.

[Kait]

I'm excited to have the day off and spend time with my family. But this quote sums up my feelings on American nationalism, which I see a lot of on the Fourth of July.

"There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports.

We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies.

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn’t belittle it; it didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn’t scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered.

The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore."

[Sunshine]

Happy Independence Day, everyone. ^.^

Some of our church family is meeting at a park for our annual picnic.

[jelly]

Canadians, go away for a few hours.

While the world's most arrogant country fuels its own ego some more?

just kidding, sort of. But I'm glad Kait just posted what she did, because what America really needs more of right now is self-awareness. Celebrating the past is cool and all, but how appropriate is patriotic pride when your country is justifying the murder of thousands of children in third world countries?

Use July 4th as a day to reflect with gratitude. And upon reflecting, look towards the future. What can we do to change the things that are not worth celebrating at all?

[The Top Crusader]

Jelly and Kait... go shut up today. >_>

[Marvin D.]

Jelly and Kait are awesome.

I like both of their posts.

[jelly]

Jelly and Kait... go shut up today. >_>

[Graces4you]

I worked the 9-12 shift at the pet lodge this morning, now we're just hanging around until dinner and fireworks at the park later. I'll probably post pictures from fireworks later

[Blitz]

You know you could shut up for just a while Jelly and Kait. Yes I don't believe America is perfect but the freedoms you enjoy and the environment well unparalleled. America in many ways is the greatest country in the world of course it isn't in some ways any more but America is still great. I have traveled a lot and I think America is still in many ways the best.

[TigerintheShadows]

Independence Day is no more about celebrating ourselves as the greatest nation in the world than my birthday is to celebrate me as the greatest person who ever lived. It's true, some people and some periods of time show undue and ignorant nationalism, but America is still a wonderful place to live where many freedoms are more honored than they are in a lot of places around the world. I won't deny that there are problems and there are things that American culture glorifies that are ungodly and are morally wrong, but that's less an "America" thing and more of a "human" thing. Why should we mar a day when we're supposed to take pride in our heritage and respect our history--good and bad--by debating over America's supposed egotism? Independence Day is about celebrating the things the Founding Fathers and many other Americans stood for--freedom, equality, doing what's right--and we ought to honor that instead of engaging in a meaningless debate. You can snark about America and call it egotistical all you want on any other day, but why can't we take Independence Day off from that to celebrate the good things?

That aside, has anyone performed yet another truly despicable and horrifying version of the Star-Spangled Banner?

[Graces4you]

I thought you all would like to see this, my friend put this up on his facebook page

I figured I’d wait until the evening before posting “Happy Fourth of July!” partially because, well, you can’t blow things up until it’s dark outside. I mean, that’s the best part! We literally get to see “The bombs bursting in midair!”

And tomorrow morning, our flags will still be there.

I mean, think about this. We are a HUGE country, and there are SO many different kinds of people united into 50 states that have their own laws, their own traditions, and their own people. In so many places around the world, 50 different states wouldn’t occupy one giant blob on the map—they would be divided and probably hate each other with an intense passion.

We’re talking Notre Dame vs Michigan rivaly. TIMES 10,000.

But somehow, through some insane miracle, we are one country and one people that respect each other. We come together once a year on the 4th of July to celebrate the fact that we all identify as one giant nation.

And sadly, that privilege of being safe, of being secure, of being free, doesn't come without a cost.

Over the course of our nation’s history, 1.34 million people have died preserving our freedom. They died upholding our nation’s commitment to freedom, democracy, and unity. These are young men and women who answered the call when our nation needed them most. And unfortunately, these soldiers paid the ultimate price.

Whether it be on the beaches of Omaha, or at Gettysburg 150 years ago, or on the vast sand dunes of the Middle East, we asked, ask, and continue to ask these men and women to put aside politics and their own needs. We ask them to risk their lives for us every single day.

1.38 million people are still deployed worldwide. They aren’t home to celebrate their independence. Today, they are still in very real immediate danger. It doesn’t matter if we agree with why they’re there.

It matters that we recognize that—in the name of their country—these people sacrifice so much. Every soldier out there is directly responsible for our ability to be safe and secure here at home.

My dad served 20 years in the Air Force. He was deployed in Korea for several years as well. Just a few years ago, my dad was in Iraq and Afganistan. He’s witnessed fire fights. He’s met soldiers.

He saw the armored car right in front of him explode because of an IED.

Today, I’m grateful my dad came back alive and uninjured. I guess that’s why I today I’m especially thankful for those who weren’t so lucky.

We’re a relatively young country, you know. We’re only 200 years old. And it blows my mind that we’ve only had to endure one Civil War. And that we still have our liberties and freedoms that this country was founded upon.

So go out there and watch fireworks and have a blast!

But don’t ever forget the 1.34 million who paid the ultimate price to give us the ability to live with both peace and security today.

[jelly]

Independence Day is no more about celebrating ourselves as the greatest nation in the world than my birthday is to celebrate me as the greatest person who ever lived. ... Independence Day is about celebrating the things the Founding Fathers and many other Americans stood for--freedom, equality, doing what's right--and we ought to honor that instead of engaging in a meaningless debate. You can snark about America and call it egotistical all you want on any other day, but why can't we take Independence Day off from that to celebrate the good things?

When my birthday comes around, I don't use it as an excuse to ignore all of the problems in my life so that I can only focus on being proud of myself. That's something I can (and should) be doing every single day. To turn a blind eye to the horrors and moral corruption around you on any day is an act of evil, and if anything our patriotic-themed days should encourage us to look closer at these things, not justify them or pretend they're not really a big deal.

Independence Day is about celebrating freedom, equality, and doing what's right? Americans have been programmed to consume food that does not nourish, buy things they don't need with money they will never actually have because there's no longer enough gold to the dollar, go into debt to get a college degree that will enable them to spend the next forty years working a 'normal' job so they can get themselves out of debt before enjoying 'retirement', and do it all without questioning anything. The illusion of freedom is the greatest tool of control. And tell me more about equality, and how America treats everyone as equals. When you're not too busy celebrating the good intentions of an amendment signed by rich white men, look around and observe the prevalent racial, gender and financial injustice all around you, and also tell me why equality apparently isn't interested in issues pertaining to gay rights. And when you're done with all of that, care to tell me how, exactly, America justifies stories like as this as 'doing what's right'?

All the while, Americans are being told by the corrupt mainstream media that their government has their best interests in mind, that GMOs can't really be that bad (but we'd prefer not to even talk about them), and that war is justified no matter what (but we won't show you video footage or give you any details that may upset you). It tells you that you should be terrified of terrorism but not of starting World War 3. It also tells you that you're awesome for being American, but only as long as you play by the rules. But above all, it's mostly interested in keeping you distracted by superficiality and fueling the materialistic mindset so that you'll spend more money. So as long as you're 'taking the day off' to be distracted by overpriced firework displays, you're helping to feed a mindless, power-hungry machine that doesn't give a poop about any of the things the Founding Fathers cared about. By all means, be proud.

It's not just about egotism. It's about rose-colored glasses, and the first step to solving a problem is recognizing you have one.

[Aeva]

Haters gonna hate; but all the Mexicans still want to come here.