England national team

[cdbearsfan]

No. Patriotism is for twats. It's also very un-English to act like Americans and feel the urge to stick flags and anthems everywhere.

(By all means put some up during football tournaments if you want to, but take then down afterwards).

[Smirker]

No. Patriotism is for twats. It's also very un-English to act like Americans and feel the urge to stick flags and anthems everywhere.

(By all means put some up during football tournaments if you want to, but take then down afterwards).

I am talking about the football 

I think people being uncomfortable shagging flags because some people with nasty opinions also shag flags is a bit silly.

You can say that about basically every national flag.

The saltire has been used in anglophobic circles in Scotland for years, especially post-Indyref.

Some terrible things have been done in the name of the Irish tricolour too.

Decent people in those places have no issue flying their flags so I don't see it as an American thing either.

Pretty much all of the same people who shag flags for hate reasons are into football too, I don't think anyone here is going to give up football for that reason.

Shag your flag.

[cdbearsfan]

No. Patriotism is for twats. It's also very un-English to act like Americans and feel the urge to stick flags and anthems everywhere.

(By all means put some up during football tournaments if you want to, but take then down afterwards).

I am talking about the football 

I think people being uncomfortable shagging flags because some people with nasty opinions also shag flags is a bit silly.

The "raise your flags" movement is being used by the Far Right to intimidate ethnic minorities. If you live next door to or in the same community as ethnic minority people and don't want to be seen as joining in with this movement, that isn't "silly", it's just being a considerate human being.

This is, of course, not saying that anyone who sticks a flag up during the World Cup supports racism. But it seems perfectly reasonable that decent people might be less inclined to do so than previously for fear of giving their neighbours reason to believe that they support the racist twats.

[Smirker]

It's a self fulfilling thing though.

You don't want to be seen as supporting it so you don't shag the flag.

So then the only people who do shag the flag are the bad apples.

So you don't want to be seen shagging the flag.

I think it's a bit bigoted to assume everyone who shags the flag is a bad apple and supports the RTF thing as well.

Time to reclaim the flag. It's everyone's flag.

I'll be giving mine a good thrusting all summer 

[Jon Crofts]

No. Patriotism is for twats. It's also very un-English to act like Americans and feel the urge to stick flags and anthems everywhere.

(By all means put some up during football tournaments if you want to, but take then down afterwards).

Who made you in charge?

[Richard E]

Supremacist nationalism is for twats but there is nothing wrong with a belief in the nation as a community with a heritage and a culture which binds it together as something with a greater importance and continuity than us as individuals, or just us and our families. Without patriotism there is no Easter Rising or heroic defence of Stalingrad and Britain surrenders in 1940.

[Jon Crofts]

Might be worth also understanding where chauvinism and jingoism fit in on the patriotism scale or maybe not confuse patriotic with racist knob.

[Sexual Ealing]

Might be worth also understanding where chauvinism and jingoism fit in on the patriotism scale or maybe not confuse patriotic with racist knob.

Chauvinism is the key concept here. People, often correctly, recoil from ‘racism’ because it’s a big, loaded word and most people don’t associate themselves with it (regardless of their words or actions). What it squarely is is chauvinism, the idea that your group is somehow better than the others.
It’s nearly as ugly and unpleasant too.

[cdbearsfan]

No. Patriotism is for twats. It's also very un-English to act like Americans and feel the urge to stick flags and anthems everywhere.

(By all means put some up during football tournaments if you want to, but take then down afterwards).

Who made you in charge?

I'm sorry I responded to a post on a football forum, Nigel.

[cdbearsfan]

Might be worth also understanding where chauvinism and jingoism fit in on the patriotism scale or maybe not confuse patriotic with racist knob.

Patriotism is just entry level racism. Being proud of a random plot of land you happen to be born in is stupid. Leave that nonsense to Americans.

[Jon Crofts]

No. Patriotism is for twats. It's also very un-English to act like Americans and feel the urge to stick flags and anthems everywhere.

(By all means put some up during football tournaments if you want to, but take then down afterwards).

Who made you in charge?

I'm sorry I responded to a post on a football forum, Nigel.

And called anyone who's patriotic a twat.

[Jon Crofts]

Might be worth also understanding where chauvinism and jingoism fit in on the patriotism scale or maybe not confuse patriotic with racist knob.

Patriotism is just entry level racism. Being proud of a random plot of land you happen to be born in is stupid. Leave that nonsense to Americans.

Give it up before you make yourself look any more stupid.

[cdbearsfan]

Because it is. Oscar Wilde was correct. Don't be patriotic. All the worst people in the world think of themselves as patriotic. It also defects from any attempt to view history with anything approaching neutrality.

[cdbearsfan]

Might be worth also understanding where chauvinism and jingoism fit in on the patriotism scale or maybe not confuse patriotic with racist knob.

Patriotism is just entry level racism. Being proud of a random plot of land you happen to be born in is stupid. Leave that nonsense to Americans.

Give it up before you make yourself look any more stupid.

What's with the personal insults, you twat?

Why not actually debate the point if you disagree?

[PeterWithesShin]

Nothing wrong with being patriotic.