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[Opinions] Re: Patriot
It seems like a red-blooded, excessively god-fearing, white, bunker in the yard, guntoting, extreme right wing name to me...Yeah, little over the top. Patricia would've been better, even though I dislike Patricia.

This message was edited 6/21/2012, 1:04 PM

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Are you saying that a black. left-wing. pro-gun-control atheist can't be patriotic?
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No, not at all. But to name your kid that, is like pumping it full of steroids. Like there are plenty of religious people, but the one that name their child Ezekiel Leviticus are probably a little more extreme and in-your-face about their beliefs. That's what makes this name bothersome to me. Nothing wrong with patriotisme, but this is like saying 'I am a patriot, and you, you spineless worm, are not'. And, maybe, because I generally hear the term in connection to extremists who justify thier actions because they're 'patriots and love their country'.
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That's what makes this name bothersome to me. Nothing wrong with patriotism, but this is like saying 'I am a patriot, and you, you spineless worm, are not.' Yes. This. You put it much better than I did.
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I still am not seeing the name Patriot that way, but I guess that's what opinions are all about.
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I completely agree. It reminds me of someone who thinks war is awesome and who is sure that his country is superior to all other countries in the world.
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I disagree. The word "patriot" does not carry that connotation for me, nor does it have to for anyone. It's too bad that for many people, "patriotism" has become a dirty word.
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Right now, it seems like we're in a 'Civil Cold War' at times where for some people think "Either you're with us or against us" whenever it comes to anything poltical or social issues (gay marriage, abortion). Patriot as a name seems like the parents are two of those people. But maybe my view on that is a bit skewed from most of my state senators, the governor and lieutenant governor recalled, and we're generally considered a battleground state.
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The word doesn't carry that connotation for me either. But when the word is used as a name it somehow changes things. I don't know why, just my impression.
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Yeah, I agree. When it's used as a name it takes on a whole other form. Makes me queasy.
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Agreed. I can't picture a couple of liberals naming their kid Patriot; it just seems like something a couple of ultra-conservatives would do.
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Aaaaarrrgghh. That's not an aaaaarrrgghh directed at you, it's just a general aaaaarrrgghh. As someone who is fairly liberal, I'm familiar with the way that conservatives like to paint liberals as people who hate America, and it angers me. Now, as I'm seeing the image that the word "patriot", even as a name rather than just a word, has for many people, I'm seeing the extent to which they have succeeded in painting liberals that way. I hate the misconception that to be liberal and to be patriotic is mutually exclusive.I'm not saying that you, or anyone else who has this perception of the name, necessarily believes this last. It's just that if the connotation is there, it means that conservatives have succeeded, to some degree at least, in remodeling the political landscape to suit themselves.
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Don't worry, I know you're not frustrated with me. I certainly don't believe that a liberal can't be patriotic- I consider myself a patriotic liberal- but the stereotype that sprang to mind upon hearing Patriot as a name was the daughter of a couple of beer-swilling, flag-waving, NIMBY-spouting Bush voters. It's the obnoxious, loud, empty kind of patriotism, not the "regular" kind.
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