Cynthia Gentry (CCAL30) (1914)
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God bless the Dixie Chicks
Posted to: Cynthia Gentry (CCAL30) (1914) by Cynthia Gentry (CCAL30) (1914), Wed, 24 May 2006 08:54:33 PDT
Edited: Wed, 24 May 2006 11:36:04 PDT
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Comments: 16 by 5 members
Viewed: 76 times by 21 members
With a jolt this week I was reminded of the kind of fearlessness and integrity that led up to the formation of the United States of America. I took American History in high school, but I just didn’t get it that anybody took much of a risk. Not really. George Washington, Thomas Paine, Paul Revere…all quaint old stories from another time. It didn’t occur to me that they didn’t know how the story would end. They just had to do what they thought was right for the greater good no matter what the outcome. Grasping that concept helps me understand the depth of their courage.
The heroes of the Revolutionary War, the War of Independence, were rebels, turncoats, and traitors. They spoke their truth even though they were hated for their “unpatriotic” stance by far more of their countrymen than I ever realized. To a large part of the population they were the bad guys. The “patriots” were the ones who sided with the way things had always been; they sided with the British. But, the “traitors” were willing to stand tall and proud because they knew that the right to speak was the road to freedom. They were willing to fight for this right. They were willing to die for it.
We are extraordinarily lucky to live in the USA that these rebels created with their “unpatriotic” actions. We have our sacred freedoms because of the sacrifices they made. These sacrifices demand that we understand the old quote from The Friends of Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” In our country we get to speak our minds without fear of being locked up or worse. And we’re proud of that right, or we sure ought to be.
I wonder if I would be willing to sacrifice much of anything for a little more freedom. Would I risk losing a cushy job or the respect of my peers? Would I be willing to put it all on the line and even face the threat of death for my principles? I doubt I have what it takes, but I am thankful that those Founding Rebels did.
This week I got a little glimpse of their type of courage and rebellion alive and well in the good ol’ U. S. of A. A singer, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, put her money where her mouth is because she understood that it was worth the risk. She spoke her mind and she wouldn’t back down just because some folks thought she should. She didn’t risk her life to form a new country, but she sure reminded me why they bothered to form this one in the first place. I haven’t been this proud to be an American in a long, long time.
God bless America.
God bless the Dixie Chicks.
By Cynthia Gentry (CCAL30) (1914), Wed, 24 May 2006 12:16:07 PDT
Comment feedback score: 0
Way to go, girls!! Plus, it's a fantastic album, but even if it wasn't I'd buy it just to support them.
topBy Kim Edwards (CCAL30) (777), Thu, 25 May 2006 23:09:10 PDT
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Are you talking about what the Dixie Chicks were saying a few years back? Or did something new happen that I'm unaware of?
By Cynthia Gentry (CCAL30) (1914), Fri, 26 May 2006 11:13:09 PDT
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It's what they said a couple of years ago. Something along the lines of they were embarrassed that George Bush was from their home state. They pretty much went underground for a couple of years because they were getting death threats and getting booed off the stage. The issue is back in the news because the ladies did some soul searching, decided to stick up for their beliefs (and the freedom to express their beliefs), and came out with a new album that said that. "I'm not ready to back down...Can't bring myself to do what it is you think I should..."
Obviously it astounds me that someone would get death threats because they said they don't like the President, but it astounds me even more that the top selling women's group of all time would not back down even if it means they'll go broke. Country music stations are avoiding them like the plague and calling them un-patriotic. HA! It blows my mind that the ones who most pointedly wrap themselves in the flag are the very ones who want to erode everything that flag stands for!!
By Dominique Beyens (CCAL30) (565), Sat, 27 May 2006 02:56:18 PDT
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The Dixie Chicks remind me a bit of the Travelling Wilburys.
By Dominique Beyens (CCAL30) (565), Sat, 27 May 2006 02:59:27 PDT
Edited: Sat, 27 May 2006 03:00:41 PDT
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Regarding Payne. He'd probably would be "doing time" should he have been living in this day and age.
By nmw (1876), Sat, 27 May 2006 03:11:28 PDT
Edited: Sat, 27 May 2006 03:11:53 PDT
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I've come to the conclusion that Socrates would also be institutionalized today for "hearing voices"
For more related information, see also R U A US-Citizen ?, BIG BROTHER, the Candidates2008 group, ... -- and/or simply use the site's "search" function to discover how to make good things happen
:D nmw
By Dominique Beyens (CCAL30) (565), Sun, 28 May 2006 15:31:49 PDT
Edited: Sun, 28 May 2006 15:32:39 PDT
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Cynthia,
As a person from across the water, i'd be very interested to hear what the American perspective on Payne is.
By nmw (1876), Sun, 28 May 2006 15:40:08 PDT
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Well,
I enthusiastically support the input of Tom Paine (regardless of his historical "nationality" ;D)
By Kim Edwards (CCAL30) (777), Sun, 28 May 2006 18:07:56 PDT
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I'm a-thinkin' I might be in the majority of Americans regarding Payne.
The perspective: "Who is he again??"
By Dominique Beyens (CCAL30) (565), Sun, 28 May 2006 18:11:53 PDT
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Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.
By Dominique Beyens (CCAL30) (565), Sun, 28 May 2006 18:17:30 PDT
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According to wikipedia :
Thomas Paine (January 29, 1737 – June 8, 1809), intellectual, scholar, revolutionary, deist and idealist. A radical pamphleteer, Paine anticipated and helped foment the American Revolution through his powerful writings, most notably Common Sense, an incendiary pamphlet advocating independence from Great Britain. An advocate for liberalism, he outlined his political philosophy in Rights of Man, written both as a reply to Edmund Burke's view of the French Revolution and as a general political philosophy treatise as well as Common Sense, a treatise on the benefits of personal liberty and limited government, in which he considers society a representation of human ideals, and government a necessary evil. Paine was also noteworthy for his support of deism, taking its form in his treatise on religion The Age of Reason, as well as for his eye-witness accounts of both the French and American
By Dominique Beyens (CCAL30) (565), Sun, 28 May 2006 18:30:02 PDT
Edited: Sun, 28 May 2006 18:31:21 PDT
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Some Quotes
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”
“Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.”
“From such beginnings of governments, what could be expected, but a continual system of war and extortion?”
“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself.”
“If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.”
“Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.”
“My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.”
“Time makes more converts than reason.”
“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value.”
— Thomas Paine
By nmw (1876), Sun, 28 May 2006 23:51:57 PDT
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My favorite quote of his is quite simple (it's from "Common Sense", which was somewhat of a "best-seller"):
"In America, Law is King."
By Cynthia Gentry (CCAL30) (1914), Mon, 29 May 2006 09:15:58 PDT
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Dominique, thanks for the focus on Paine. I'm going to open a few boxes and see if I can dig up my old copy of Common Sense. Think I'll start reading 1776, too. It's in my towering stack of "to be read" books.
By nmw (1876), Mon, 29 May 2006 09:33:12 PDT
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By Mark Grimes (4111), Wed, 24 May 2006 11:43:29 PDT
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FYI: