This week we started our study of the Constitution and the freedoms that make us uniquely American. You can order your own free copy of the United States Constitution from: http://www.constitutionfacts.com/index.cfm?section=bookstore&page=freeCopy.cfm
There are things about America that I don't like; paying taxes, crooked politicians and corporate greed. However, despite those things, I am still proud to be an American. I am proud to live in a diverse country where we can participate in our own political process. I am proud that we have the freedom to practice our own religion and speak our mind. Each quarter as we review the Constitution, I am reminded of all the freedoms that we have which I tend to take for granted.
So my question to you this week is, "Are you proud to be American? If so, why? If no, why not?" Answers are due no later than Monday, July 20th, 2009.
I think that I am proud to be an American. I don't like how it's run now, but I do like living here. That being said, I haven't had the opportunity to live anywhere else as of yet; but I think that, as a newer nation, we have been able to avoid some, not all, of the past mistakes. I like our liberties and ability to change and engage how our country is operated. There are millions of people that don't have that kind of opportunity.
ReplyDelete-Nick Alexander
I'm proud to be an American. I enjoy the freedom to practice a religion of my choice, to speak without fear and to lead my life how I would like, not as others would like us to. I don't mind paying taxes, but think that we could come up with a better system to make them equal for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI am proud to be an American. I agree with Damon Johnson about the freedom of religion and speech. That is the main reason why I am proud to be an American because of our freedoms.
ReplyDeleteI would say that I am somewhat proud to be an American. I am proud of our freedoms, I am proud of the things we have accomplished as a nation, but I am not proud of George Bush, and I am not proud of our scandalous government.
ReplyDelete-Heather R. Davis
I can say that I am proud to be an American. The freedoms that we have compared to other contries are often taken for granted. I feel blessed to have all of the freedoms that many may never experience.
ReplyDeleteI am proud to be an American. I think we have done amazing things for the short time we have been a nation. The things we did to get there might not be the best way to go about doing things, but they were done for the greater good of our nation. I believe there are many citizens that need to realize the people that make up our Goverment are not America; we are. They are doing there jobs. Many politicians do not represent us well by the decisions they make in there job, but as an American I am glad that i have all of the benifits of being born to This Nation.
ReplyDeleteI am proud to be an American to a certain extent. I appreciate all of the freedoms I have as an American, but I liked being an English as a main language country. Now everything is written in Spanish AND English. I believe this is America. I would not go to Mexico and expect them to speak English and have everything in English. Sorry, I went off on a tangent. I'm proud to be an American because of all of the freedoms, but there are some things that need to be focused on and fixed. Money needs to be put to better uses, and college should not cost $90,000 a year in such a terrible economy. It really is sad.
ReplyDelete--Kristen Rice
I am most certainly proud to be an American. I used to question this but with my brother currently serving in Iraq, I have gained so much appreciation for my country. He has given me so much to be proud of and serves as a reminder of what this country is all about. Of course, there are things that disappoint me such as corrupt politicians, hunger and homelessness in the United States, high crime and violence, but at the end of the day, I am proud of the freedoms that I have. It isn't everywhere that people are allowed to speak freely, worship (or not) as they choose, and have the freedom to choose their political leaders. We have the privilege of all these things and they are taken for granted so easily that we almost forget that our founding fathers put their blood, sweat, and tears into providing these freedoms for US. It is my hope that with each passing day, we will all come together without regard to age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity to do what is right to preserve the ideals of our country that make it a great place to call home.
ReplyDeleteI am proud to be an American. There are times when I don't really like how things are run but what can you really do about that. I do like the freedoms that we have compared to some to other countries. There are a great deal of issues going on in the United States but everyone deals with them day by day. It's a great place to call home and I'm very happy to live here.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am proud to be an American. We have an amazing history of overthrowing a tyrannical government and forming our own. We are given basic freedoms that other countries don’t necessarily have. I am also proud that our country is taking the initiative to amend our relationship with Russia and Cuba.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am not proud to be an American when it is clear that the educational system is poor. The “No Child Left Behind Act” is basically a failure, the act has been counterproductive. The only impact it has on teachers and schools is negative. I am also not proud of the fact that in the last 30 or 40 years America feels the need to be “The Global Police”. Last, I am certainly not proud that the country elected a President to get us out of a war and out of Iraq only to double our troop’s combat forces in Afghanistan.
I am proud to be an American despite the fact that as a country we are far from perfect. I would not give up the freedoms that we have gained through the sacrifices of those that have fought and died for them. I am not proud of the fact that we have allowed issues within our own government to continue to grow and that we as Americans have been satisfied to complain about them but do nothing to change them. The fact the country was built to be by the people and for the people we have allowed others to take control and question and distort the freedoms that we have as a Nation.
ReplyDeleteWe have an opportunity to be a greater nation than we have ever been, but greed, lust for power, and corruption taint intentions and deeds meant to be good. We become unmovable and opinionated to the point we don't even try to listen to others. I don't mind the fact that if another country asks for our help that we provide them the opportunity to enjoy the same freedoms. I just wish as a nation that we would focus more on our issues at home and fixing them.
I am proud to be an American. The things that people say are bad about us are the things that make us American. We have free speech, we have the right to bear arms, and we have the right to be kick a**. The reason we have a bad rap as a nation is because people are jealous. We do what we have to do to keep our people safe. There is no doubt in my mind that if we wouldn't of went and bombed everyone we did after 9/11 that we would be in a far worse place then we are now. I think its ironic how many people say now how bad of a president George Bush was, but everyone had his back when 9/11 was fresh in our heads. The only thing that frustrates me about our country is that people swing to dramatically to the left when things are good, and then to dramatically to the right when things are bad. People need to relax, and realize that things run their course and good and bad things are bound to happen; however, living in this free country that we do we have the right to complain. Funny how that works. Needless to say, I am proud to be an American, and stand behind the new President in charge. I also stand behind the war that we are fighting to keep us safe here at home.
ReplyDeleteI am deeply proud to be an American. I love all the freedoms we have and that we do have a democracy. In Dean Sample's post he said that many politicians did not represent him well, through voting that is something that can be changed. I love the diversity that is widespread through our nation and continues to grow and that changes are being made to accomodate this growth.I love that my children are given an education, that I have well maintenanced roads to drive on and emergengcy services available.I love that my country wants to keep us safe and that I am not the one that has to make the hard decisions. I love the men and women who have such a strong conviction that they would willing sacrifice their lives for the good our country. Yes, I am proud to be an American.
ReplyDeleteevansrockfamily is Trina Evans..fixed for next time
ReplyDeleteI am most proud to be an American. Thinking of my family particularly, I believe this country has given us so many opportunities to better ourselves.We are all so blessed to live in a counrty where basic human rights are fought for and are easily accessable.I am proud to be able to speak my mind and not be jailed for the words that come out of my mouth. No county is perfect, and the United States is still so very far from achieving perfection, however we are able to live our lives which ever way we want, and that alone is worth being proud of.
ReplyDelete- Julia Smith
I am proud to be an American. I am able to express myself through my freedoms and yet still have rules and laws to keep me safe. America has a wide variety of people (homosexual, black, white, hispanic, straight, etc.) and they are also given rights to freedom. I also feel very safe here in the States because I know that we have the military defending our freedom. Education is another important thing to me and I'm glad that our country focuses on it to make changes and better the services for me and generations to come.
ReplyDeleteI like most of us, am proud to be an American! I am so very blessed to live in a country with as many freedoms that are literally freely given to us! So many times we, including myself take for granted all the little things that we are entitled to because of selfish reasons. Honestly, when a person sits and backs thinks about all the violence, war, racsim, the recession we are going through, and so on, oe would become a big ball of emotions and want to questio-"Is America really a safe environment to raise a family?!" If we were to compare the U.S. to the worse possible country in the enire world than with out a doubt we would say Yes, America is the greatest place to reach our freedoms and raise a family! I feel as though our country has so many Immagrants, legal and unlegal for a reason. Which brings me to the song- "My Country tis of thee, sweet land of LIBERTY....." Liberty or Freedom is what drives so many people to our country. And to those who have little to nothing and are considered "illegal immigrants" by our American standards, well....I can definitely see why they would want to come here even though it doesn't seem fair to let them in. One tends to wonder what kind of democracy, if any the illegal aliens were brought up in to were they have an intense DRIVE to get out of their "slump of a country...if you will."
ReplyDeleteThe way I look at it is I am Proud of my country, Ashamed of my government. We come from a good country with little poverty, but our leaders have some serious problems. Always have always will. I do believe that you must take pride in what you do, including being an American, ou just don't have to be proud of the people running it.
ReplyDeleteI am proud to be an American because we as American's can be exactly who we want to be and express ourselves freely. As American's we can explore new wonders and possibilites that the world has to offer.
ReplyDeleteI am also proud to be an American because it is home to me, it's all that I know. I love living in "the land of the free and the home of the brave," and I wouldn't have it any other way
Am I proud to be an american? There are many freedoms that us as citizens hold dear, yet we sacrifice these freedoms in the pursuit of protection rather it be from foreign or domestic sources. I am a proud person who enjoys the simple things in life and the things that made this country so great. I enjoy my guns, my right to practice my religion, the right to say what I want about what ever when I want. So if you ask me if I am proud to be American I will tell you yes but with a hesitation because everytime we give up our freedoms to escape a problem we become more and more what we strive to fight against.
ReplyDeletei love this country on the basis in which it was founded an am proud to be an american. i however do not like what it has become with all of the interest groups with money in hand grabbing at the men who voice our opinion. money can sway and make our voices null and void. thank god for assemby. through all of our problems, i would not live anywhere else, i love this country
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for the freedom we have as a nation. I am proud to be an American. We are the only country to have a "peaceful transition of power" from President to President, whereas many other countries take years and years for successors to step down or are overthrown. Unlike many nations, we have a system of democracy and we have progressed so much in the last 200 years. On a side note, even though we have a great transition between each administration, our bailout plans are not what they should be. Denying a company money because they flew to Washington in private jets only to turn around and approve the bailout when the executives drove doesn't make any sense to me. Despite all the current issues and even though we are billions of dollars in debt, I am grateful to live in a country where I don't have to worry about what race I am, what gender I am, or what religion I believe in.
ReplyDelete-Alicia Jacobs
I'm greatful to be an American! Greatful to God, for allowing my ancestors to be used as the sacrifice for the freedoms we all enjoy today. Eventhough they were forced to come to this country against their will, to labor. Through the centuries of their 'hard labor', they helped to make and shape our country. If this situation had not occured, perhaps I would have been in such a poor nation as Africa; not knowing the freedoms that I know here in America today. I know that we've come a long way, but I also know that we have a long way to go, and we will get there as long as we learn to respect ourselves, each other, and our country. I have to admit that I really don't like paying taxes and such things, but I think that I'm also learning that some things are a part of the sacrificing needed to maintain and retain our freedom; be it blood shed, death, ecetera. On corporate greed and bad politicians; we all can do something about that. We vote for politicians, whom may break laws and give corporations 'hefty bonuses', but if we apply enough pressure through resistance, we can have them removed from office if necessary. Having said all; these are the reasons why I'm greatful to be an American.
ReplyDeleteI am very proud to be an American. We have so many freedoms and rights that other countries do not have that we don't even realize because we have never had to live without them. We are allowed to live where we want, work where we want, and wear what we want. So many countries have restricted guidelines on these topics that we take for granted. We can protest when we want and practice whatever religion we want to. I have always wanted to visit Europe and I used to want to live there for cultural purposes, but as I get older I see that I have it really good here and that America is the only country I want to call home.
ReplyDelete-Casey Frederick
In general, I am proud to be and American. I agree that there are a lot of freedoms and rights that we take advantage of. Yes, we all like to complain about politics, and the way the country is run, because we all think we could do a better job! But in reality, there are countries where people are enslaved, in the middle of war, in such extreme poverty that they can barely stay alive. I think that we all become too spoiled and forget that there are people suffering out there.
ReplyDeletei agree with heather. i am some what of a proud american. i love the fact that we hav freedom and rights. but the government has been crap for a long time. i think if our government wasnt so screwed up and was actual doing good instead of bad i wouldnt hesitate to say im proud to be american.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say if I am proud to be an American, because I haven't been anything else. I was born here, raised here, and I vacationed here. I know we have many more freedoms than most cultures and governments, but mabye the system they set up there actually work.Its hard to see the whole picture when youre stuck in one pixel of it.
ReplyDelete-Zach Karnes
I'm proud to live in America because technically I'm not an "American" because I was born outside the country. Yes, I'm an American citizen but that doesn't mean I'm "American". I am very happy with all the things I have and all the people I know and I know that had I not come to this country I wouldn't have these luxuries.
ReplyDeleteM.J. Lindsey