At 02:21 PM 21/08/2001 -0700, Damien Sullivan wrote:
>"America has invested her religion as well as her morality in sound 
>income-paying securities.  She has adopted the unassailable position of
a 
>nation blessed because it deserves to be blessed; and her sons,
whatever 
>other theologies they may affect or disregard, subscribe unreservedly
to 
>this national creed."
>   -- Agnes Repplier, _Times and Tendencies_
Good on you Damien. I am relieved that some Americans have noticed this 
too. It seems obvious to others outside USA, but it is rarely mentioned
by 
anybody.
I really wince when some of the more patriotic on this list say that USA
is 
the most powerful country because it is the land of the free. Sounds so 
much like those British who were still singing "Rule Britannia,
Britannia 
rules the waves" when their colonial empire was going down the drain...
and 
the Romans at the height of their domination, feeling that they were the
greatest.
I am sure that if Oz was a major super-power there would be plenty here
who 
thought that we were the best and deserved our position. Hopefully I
would 
not be one of them. Patriotism is down there with religion as one of the
darkest and most dangerous memes.
Cheers,
         - Miriam
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Q. What is the similarity between an elephant and a grape?
A. They are both purple... except for the elephant.
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http://werple.net.au/~miriam
http://members.optushome.com.au/miriame
Virtual Reality Association  http://www.vr.org.au
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