National pride not everything<\/p>\n
I was deeply impressed by Devi Asmarani's distinction between
\nNationalism and irrational thinking in The Jakarta Post of Sept.
\n18, 1999, and would like to use this as an opportunity to comment
\non the flag burning incident. I feel highly qualified to do this
\nbecause I come from a country that has seen its flag burned many
\ntimes, sometimes by its very own citizens.<\/p>\n
The twisted sense at perspective that causes some Indonesians
\nto react more strongly to the burning of their flag than to the
\nrape of East Timor is not exclusive to Indonesia. A few
\nmainstream politicians (including George Bush) tried to ban flag
\nburning in the U.S. They either forgot, or did not care, about
\nthe role that this offensive (though relatively nonviolent) form
\nat protest played in bringing our boys home from Vietnam. Whether
\nAmericans burning American flags should be regarded as an
\nunpatriotic shame for being American, or as a patriotic concern
\nover bad policy, is beside the point.<\/p>\n
Flag burning gets attention, and even though it is not among
\nthe more constructive forms of criticism, its shock value never
\ngets old. It serves to wake up Americans to the dark side of its
\nrole in the world. I hope, like in America, this incident teaches
\nsome of the more open-minded Indonesians that some things are
\nmore sacred than national pride.<\/p>\n
ANTONIO CHAVES<\/p>\n
Hyattsville, Maryland<\/p>\n
USA<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/national-pride-not-everything-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }