We all know the lyrics to the song we grew up singing at school services.
"I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free."
But what if I'm not proud?
Society tells us that we need to, more than anything else, be proud to be Americans. Society tells us that what we have is something that many Americans have fought for and have died for, so we need to be thankful and appreciate this freedom and this safety that we are given at no personal cost to most of us.
While I understand this and I agree that I have had a very privileged life thus far due to the freedom and safety that these soldiers fought for, and while I do think that they each completed extremely courageous and noble acts in the name of America, I'm still not proud to be free.
And I'm okay with that.
Why?
Because America tends to believe that freedom and safety are the most important parts of life, and I do not.
Why not?
Because when we put our freedom and safety first, we hurt others.
It's a common American view to believe that if we want to keep the safety our soldiers have given us, we should close our borders so we do not let "terrorists" into our country.
We try to keep "safety first" by not allowing Muslims into our country because there is an extremely small chance that they could belong to ISIS. Of course I understand that ISIS threatens our nation's security, but allowing for that chance and helping Muslim people come here to better their lives will always be worth the "what ifs".
Giving thousands of immigrants lives of opportunity is worth the risk of one corrupt human coming through.
Because these people need help and we have the things they need, reaching out to them is more important than our freedom and safety.
Another common view is that letting Mexican people across our border will hurt our safety and freedom. That it will raise crime rates and take jobs from American people. And yet again, if we choose "safety first" and close our borders, we take opportunity from Mexican people.
We remove an opportunity to help others, to truly change the world, from our hands.
Because of issues like this, I can no longer say I am proud to be an American.
I can no longer say I am above all else thankful for freedom, because there are more important things in life.
I'd rather show love and acceptance to people of all colors and places than to know I am safe while I sleep.
I'd rather help those in need than use my freedom to make my own life more enjoyable.
Because in the end, we aren't living life to see who can live the longest, we are living life to love, to help, and to change.
