A Vent From Britain

[HagiaSophia]

No, the real answer to why Britain spawned people fuelled with maniacal hate for their country is that Britain hates itself. In hating Britain, these British suicide bombers were as British as a police warning for flying the union flag.

Britain’s self-loathing is deep, pervasive and lethally dangerous. We get bombed, and we say it’s all our own fault. Schools refuse to teach history that risks making pupils proud, and use it instead as a means of instilling liberal guilt. The government and the BBC gush over ‘the other’, but recoil at the merest hint of British culture. The only thing we are licensed to be proud of is London’s internationalism — in other words, that there is little British left about it.

Only in the last few years has it dawned on the government how dangerous the Left’s war on Britishness really is. Labour ministers now queue up to declare that we need a new sense of British identity. But the ability to learn a few sentences in English and a knowledge of how to claim benefits do not create a national allegiance.

What is needed is something to make the people who live in these islands feel good about being British, but the war on Britishness has imposed a nationwide amnesia about our national story.

The historian Simon Schama wrote that ‘to collude in the minimisation of British history on the grounds of its imagined irrelevance to our rebranded national future, or from a suspicion that it does no more than recycle patriotic pieties unsuited to a global marketplace, would be an act of appallingly self-inflicted collective memory loss’. And as the American philosopher George Santayana warned, ‘A country without a memory is a country of madmen.’

Britain is one of the few countries where it is a source of pride to despise your country. We are all repeatedly taught the things to be ashamed of about Britain, but what about the things to be proud of? The truth is that Britain’s self-loathing is as unique as it is unwarranted. Britain really is great. These small rainswept isles off the western end of the vast Eurasian landmass have contributed far more to the well-being of the rest of humanity than any other country, bar none.

spectator.co.uk/article.php?id=6392&page=2

 

[KathleenElsie]

HagiaSophia:

No, the real answer to why Britain spawned people fuelled with maniacal hate for their country is that Britain hates itself. In hating Britain, these British suicide bombers were as British as a police warning for flying the union flag.

Britain’s self-loathing is deep, pervasive and lethally dangerous. We get bombed, and we say it’s all our own fault. Schools refuse to teach history that risks making pupils proud, and use it instead as a means of instilling liberal guilt. The government and the BBC gush over ‘the other’, but recoil at the merest hint of British culture. The only thing we are licensed to be proud of is London’s internationalism — in other words, that there is little British left about it.

Only in the last few years has it dawned on the government how dangerous the Left’s war on Britishness really is. Labour ministers now queue up to declare that we need a new sense of British identity. But the ability to learn a few sentences in English and a knowledge of how to claim benefits do not create a national allegiance.

What is needed is something to make the people who live in these islands feel good about being British, but the war on Britishness has imposed a nationwide amnesia about our national story.

The historian Simon Schama wrote that ‘to collude in the minimisation of British history on the grounds of its imagined irrelevance to our rebranded national future, or from a suspicion that it does no more than recycle patriotic pieties unsuited to a global marketplace, would be an act of appallingly self-inflicted collective memory loss’. And as the American philosopher George Santayana warned, ‘A country without a memory is a country of madmen.’

Britain is one of the few countries where it is a source of pride to despise your country. We are all repeatedly taught the things to be ashamed of about Britain, but what about the things to be proud of? The truth is that Britain’s self-loathing is as unique as it is unwarranted. Britain really is great. These small rainswept isles off the western end of the vast Eurasian landmass have contributed far more to the well-being of the rest of humanity than any other country, bar none.

spectator.co.uk/article.php?id=6392&page=2

Sorry but it is in vogue here stateside to also HATE our country. The UK does not have a monoply on this. Just ask some of the hard lefts if this country is ever in the right.:banghead:

 

[HagiaSophia]

KathleenElsie:

Sorry but it is in vogue here stateside to also HATE our country. The UK does not have a monoply on this. Just ask some of the hard lefts if this country is ever in the right.:banghead:

I heartily agree – thhe left has taught kids to hate their country, despise any authority or discipline – it’s all about if it “feels right”. You cannot teach this stuff in schools for over 50 years nad not see what we read in our newspapers every day.

 

[condan]

Maybe I’ve missed it but where are our friends from the U.K. who have spent the last year Bush-bashing on this forum?

By the way, hats off to the special teams and their work in the tubes this morning. I prefer my suicide bombers dead BEFORE they have have the chance to detonate themselves.

 

[Ani_Ibi]

KathleenElsie:

Sorry but it is in vogue here stateside to also HATE our country. The UK does not have a monoply on this. Just ask some of the hard lefts if this country is ever in the right.:banghead:

In Canada if a person dares refer to love of country as ‘patriotism’ they are loudly rebuked. ‘Patriotism’ we are told by the uninformed left is an American thing. Canadians can feel ‘nationalism’ not patriotism. I suggest these noseyparkers learn their own national anthem which says: “…true patriot love in all our sons command…”

Love of country is something which the Church recognizes. There is a bond to the land which we call home. A bond to the rocks, the soil, the trees, the clouds, and animals. Jesus himself is familiar with every stone, leaf, and shore. Love however is not politically correct.

I never used to question my place in this country. But more and more now I do question it. The truth is I do not recognize my country anymore. This is not the country that people laid down their lives for. This is not the country that waves immigrants built. This is not the country the First Nations people honoured for over 10 000 years. If I could, I would throw it all over in a moment and dig myself into a hut in the woods.

 

[iamrefreshed]

HagiaSophia:

No, the real answer to why Britain spawned people fuelled with maniacal hate for their country is that Britain hates itself. In hating Britain, these British suicide bombers were as British as a police warning for flying the union flag.

Britain’s self-loathing is deep, pervasive and lethally dangerous. We get bombed, and we say it’s all our own fault. Schools refuse to teach history that risks making pupils proud, and use it instead as a means of instilling liberal guilt. The government and the BBC gush over ‘the other’, but recoil at the merest hint of British culture. The only thing we are licensed to be proud of is London’s internationalism — in other words, that there is little British left about it.

Only in the last few years has it dawned on the government how dangerous the Left’s war on Britishness really is. Labour ministers now queue up to declare that we need a new sense of British identity. But the ability to learn a few sentences in English and a knowledge of how to claim benefits do not create a national allegiance.

What is needed is something to make the people who live in these islands feel good about being British, but the war on Britishness has imposed a nationwide amnesia about our national story.

The historian Simon Schama wrote that ‘to collude in the minimisation of British history on the grounds of its imagined irrelevance to our rebranded national future, or from a suspicion that it does no more than recycle patriotic pieties unsuited to a global marketplace, would be an act of appallingly self-inflicted collective memory loss’. And as the American philosopher George Santayana warned, ‘A country without a memory is a country of madmen.’

Britain is one of the few countries where it is a source of pride to despise your country. We are all repeatedly taught the things to be ashamed of about Britain, but what about the things to be proud of? The truth is that Britain’s self-loathing is as unique as it is unwarranted. Britain really is great. These small rainswept isles off the western end of the vast Eurasian landmass have contributed far more to the well-being of the rest of humanity than any other country, bar none.

spectator.co.uk/article.php?id=6392&page=2

Every country has something to be ashamed about. As does every religion. The trick is to recognize those things, atone and move on. It would be easy for the world and Brits to harp on British Colonialism of the past. But in the same breath we should recognize that it was indeed the British who stood tall against the Axis powers in WWI and II.

The same can be said about my country, America. We have gotten involved in areas where we should have not. But, by the same token, by getting involved we were able to help in some instances. Hindsight is easy. Knowing what decision to make prior to acting is the tough part.

As a people we need to focus on the good.