Reclaiming my national identity
by Lady Lee 36 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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LouBelle
Lady Lee - It's absolutely wonderful that you have seen so much of your homeland. Many people want to travel but are quick to cross boarders to do this, when their own country holds so much beauty. I hope that you have a wonderful day today and sing out proud - to be canadian and to be free. Enjoy your day!
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hamilcarr
Don't know if the UK or any Europena countries have a similar holiday
Belgium celebrates its independence on July 21st.
Nothing compared though to France's quatorze juillet, Bastille Day, commemorating the start of the French Revolution.
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AK - Jeff
Cog - The US shares this rain-forest area with you on the Olympic Peninsula just south of your area.
I have been there. It is fabulous.
LL - Thanx for sharing that. Happy Canada Day to you. Your patriotic feelings are shared in my household - only of course my flag is a different one. I hang it proudly outside my door for all to see. I have one on my car. Isn't it wonderful to finally accept the community in which we live, rather than to spurn it as an evil 'part of Satan's system of things'?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_LyELknLVI&feature=related
Jeff
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BluesBrother
I have to feel akin to disfellowman on this one
nationalism is funny... I still dont see the point. I love where i live, but im not proud of being american. I am a citizen of the world. God bless the world
Maybe because there is not to be proud of over here...even Simon moved to Canada...I would go with the "citizen of the world" idea. When abused, nationalism can be a destructive force in the world..But that is obviously not the kind that Lady Lee feels. It has to be good to enjoy where you live . Have a good day
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edmond dantes
God bless Canada. What a good post.Better reason for a celebration than any of the Watchtower leaders can come up with.
My great Grandfather emigrated to Vancouver around 1918.
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cognizant dissident
nationalism is funny... I still dont see the point. I love where i live, but im not proud of being american. I am a citizen of the world. God bless the world
Maybe because there is not to be proud of over here...even Simon moved to Canada...I would go with the "citizen of the world" idea. When abused, nationalism can be a destructive force in the world..But that is obviously not the kind that Lady Lee feels. It has to be good to enjoy where you live . Have a good day
I understand and agree with these perspectives also. I'm not really "proud" to be a Canadian. I know it was just an accident of my birth and it's no credit to me whatsoever. Mostly, I feel very appreciative because I realize how fortunate I am to be born in a country of great natural beauty, that is very wealthy, relatively speaking, and takes freedom and social justice very seriously.
However, I do believe there is natural beauty in all lands and all cultures so I don't consider myself nationalistic either. Not being nationalistic is probably the only JW belief that I have held onto despite totally disagreeing with everything else about the religion. It's also the teaching that probably kept me a JW for as long as I was. It's the only thing I think is really attractive about that religion.
It's interesting to me how humans always want to make dividing lines between groups and countries and label themselves, "us" and "them". It's something that goes against the grain for me. I much admire the author James Mitchener. He also called himself a "citizen of the world" and would live for years in different countries, researching them and writing about them.
I don't agree that there is nothing to be proud of in Britiain, though. I visited there, as my father is British, and it is a beautiful country, with beautiful landscapes and seascapes, steeped in a rich and interesting history. It has it's economic and racial problems, to be sure, but then so does Canada. No country in the world is immune to that.
Cog - The US shares this rain-forest area with you on the Olympic Peninsula just south of your area.
LOL! I knew that already, but I didn't make a distinction between borders, it is really all one rain forest in a continuous line down the coast to Northern California. Nature doesn't recognize the artificial divides we humans create with our national borders. The perfect illustration to the above perspectives on nationalism. I actually feel I have more in common, culturally speaking, with Americans living in the Pacific Northwest, than I do with Canadians living in Ottawa, Montreal, or the Maritimes, although my mother is from Nova Scotia, and I have visited, so there is some family affinity there. When I visited, I enjoyed the hospitable people and had a wonderful time, but there were many cultural differences from one end of Canada to the other, whereas in Seattle and Portland, the lifestyle and perspectives of the people who live there are very similiar to BC.
Well, that's my thoughts on nationalism for Canada Day.
Peace to everyone in Canada, our neighbours to the south and our human brothers all over the world!
Cog
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dawg
That was a beautiful read... happy BD Canada.
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misguided
If there was a lottery to be won...I won it...and that was that I was born here. Happy Canada Day...from another proud Canadian!
Actually, I have dual citizenship. I have a Canadian Passport...and I have a European Union passport...as my father is a citizen of Germany.
I'm very proud of my Canadian Passport (well...maybe not the picture..but the country.) It's respected. I'm so privileged to live in such a splendid, diverse country!
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Lady Lee
cog
That's it! HISTORY
In researching my family's history the history of the earliest French settlers who often married natives (Ojibway in my family) I have found a sense of who I am in the stream of Canadian histrory.
Some of the earliest French settlers lived in Montreal near the Bonsecours Market - actually just a few streets away. That was in the late 1500s. Slowly they moved westward and into the Ottawa valley. And later into the Sudbury/North Bay area where many of my mother's family still live
We live in such a migrant world. Not as many people continue to live where they were born. We move west or north or east - and even south. Moving here has given me a sense of home or belonging that I really needed
BTW I enjoyed the day as well as the fireworks right outside my window