I finally got off my duff and made some t-shirts and bumper stickers at CafePress.com. The statement is “Humble to be an American” because I’m really sick of this whole “Proud to be an American” and “Power of Pride” thing I see on bumper stickers. I’m tired of pride. It’s supposed to be a sin. Fat lot of good it’s done us thus far. I may add some more designs later about “Fighting for Responsibility,” because everyone seems to really get caught up in the idea of Fighting for Freedom but few seem to remember that freedom demands responsibility. Here’s my store address:
www.cafepress.com/humbleamerican
Buy some stuff! I only marked it up for a $1 profit. Let me know if you think I should make buttons and mugs, etc.
Seeing your t-shirt design reminded me of several comments made by Stanley Hauerwas my Christian Ethics professor at Duke. His evaluation of the “American Pride” response were similiar. If you’re not acquainted with him, I invite you to check out an interview he did with Sojourners magazine in September 2001. http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=news.display_archives&mode=current_opinion&article=CO_010702h
Thanks for that, especially this: “I don’t want to be terribly judgmental about people rediscovering their patriotism, because I think it’s a sign of how deeply lonely the American people are that suddenly they feel together. And that’s very frightening, because a rootless consumer society suddenly deciding it has something to kill for is a very frightening reality.”