AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM: I DRANK THE KOOL-AID. DID YOU?

I must've missed the fad or something, I don't recall people burning and desecrating flags every single day like it was a competition to see who could insult the flag the most... when did THAT happen?

A flag is just a piece of cloth in the end, either way. What it represents, however, is what truly matters. As long as they're not doing it in front of me, and there are no fire-catching hazzards around that'll put me or my own family in danger, let em' do whatever they want to the flag. I would advise those idiots who think it's worth their time to desecrate a flag for kicks, to do it away from public places, though. Or please do it in the deep South, AND in a public place, and put it on Youtube for me to enjoy what happens to you!

Geez, we're all not all bad, Canuck. Have you ever been here?

kentona hates me. :(

author=Canuck link=topic=2433.msg45288#msg45288 date=1227015208
I never replied to Holbert's big post, and lost motivation.

My closing statement is: I don't plan on ever living in America. Have fun. I'm going to Spain.

Thanks for wasting twenty minutes of my life. I will make it a point in the future not to respond to short, idealists posts with long winded rants. You're still my favorite guy from RMD.

author=kentona link=topic=2433.msg45339#msg45339 date=1227027860
I've only been to North and South Dakota (when I was younger) and more recently Las Vegas and Florida (Orlando mostly).

People kept trying to sell me timeshares in Florida, and had the annoying habit of saying things like "God Bless this" and "God Bless that" and "Thank God", but other than that it was fine. People were polite and friendly. (I likes my people like I likes my women: secular).

US census results list 78.5% of Americans claim to be Christians, while the Canadian census results list 72% of Canadians as Christians. That's not a very large difference. I meet a lot of folks from Manitoba and they're not afraid to pimp out the Christian fish on the back of their Volkswagon. Maybe Manitoba is like the American deep south, or maybe Canadian Christians don't wear it on their sleeve (this is also true of most Americans, despite what the rightwing nutjobs say).

I would go off topic and mention that most of Europe still self-identifies themself as religious despite plummeting church attendance, but that's neither here nor there. Americans just lie about showing up for church -- I haven't been there for months.

North Dakota and South Dakota (outside of Fargo and Sioux Falls) have a combined population of approximately three.

Also, I can assure you that "Thank God" in America has become highly secular. It's a just a phrase and doesn't really have any religious connotations for most people anymore. "Thank God it's Friday." God bless too, to a lesser extent. Though you're a smart guy and could probably tell the difference.

Alright, I'll definitely reply to it.

I can muster up the motivation, I just thought the conversation was petering out, and interest was waning.

I have thought about it, and I'll give it a good reply when I get home from work (in about 9 hours time).

To further address holb's point, it really depends on what states you are talking about.

I live in Rochester, NY and I don't know a single friend of mine that goes to church(regardless of their religion - some of them are religious), and it's not like I intentionally avoid religious people.

This would be different in states like Utah or Oklahoma, where they be loving themselves some Jesus. State culture is a really big deal and your mileage will vary depending on where you go. It also correlates with big city liberalism to a degree(we have small, socially conservative counties in NY - but nothing that makes up for the series of medium-large cities of Rochester, Buffalo and Albany - or NYC, which is the sole reason why NY is one of the most strongly democratic states in the nation.)

We would be much more like Pennsylvania in elections if NYC was Philadelphia's size.