can you tell i've been listening to rise against?

It's been a while.

I should be studying for Euro, but I'm not. I had two ideas for blog posts a while ago, but I can't remember the second anymore.

--Marx said religion was the opiate of the masses. He said religion was invented by the rich to distract the poor and make them work harder in hopes of rewards in the afterlife. I think Marx is wrong for two reasons. One, I don't think ALL religion was invented with exploitation in mind (though certainly there are some, somewhere in the world)--Christianity, I think, is an exception to the rule. (I'll elaborate if you ask me to.) But what I really want to say is that Marx forgot the true opiate--war.

Look at European history. If your 19th-century country had class conflicts and domestic issues (i.e, Germany), you go to war, kick foreign butt, everyone's rallying around your flag and singing your national anthem, and everything's right with the world. It doesn't even have to be a war you started. Look at how much everyone loved American after 9/11. Yes, it was a tragic day, and in a sense, the unity it brought was a great thing. But then there are those united by their hatred of the mysterious 'enemy'--we are human; we want revenge. So what do we do? Persuade those over the age of 18 that by pumping bullets into foreign hearts, they will advance the glory of the nation. And what do even attempt to gain from war? More land, more resources...things that will eventually be lost. And what do we give up? The lives of those who could have done so much. The lives of spouses and children and brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers. For what? Really, nothing. Destroying the 'infidel'--as if killing a few will solve anything. Spreading democracy--because it's so perfect and everything. Ending oppression--because we're not going to support whatever candidate sucks up to us the most.

I hate war. I have no right to say this. I'm not a soldier. But I hate the very concept of war. Don't get me wrong--soldiers are the most heroic individuals to exist. They make a living by throwing themselves in harm's way for people like us--people like me, who think their job shouldn't exist. I just think...they shouldn't have to. War shouldn't have to exist. It does nothing. I know it can't be erased; we're too far gone for that. As long as separate nations exist, there will be war...

But why, exactly, do we have to be nationalistic? Why must there be separate nations? Yes, there are language and cultural barriers. Yes, I'm being completely and utterly idealistic. But when I think about it, the concept of nationalism, the idea of 'my country wrong or right,' the idea of pledging your allegiance five times a week...why does a country NEED my allegiance? Why just the USA? Why not the whole human race? Why serve just my country when I can serve the world (and, as a Christian, God)?

Why should I love only MY country?

America, my primary allegiance does not lie with you. I'll keep saying the pledge every school day between 10:40 and 11:02. But know that I refuse to limit myself to pledging allegiance to you alone.

(Apologies for the unexpected semi-Montaigne-style essay this turned out to be.)