General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I changed the channel when Battle Hymn of the Republic started [View all]Igel
(35,282 posts)But some of those it excludes you don't want to see as excluded.
Many of those it excludes you don't think should be included, anyway.
Consider how "we the people" is often used. It's absolutely exclusionary. The people, versus those who would oppres the people. However, the oppressors are also humans, and therefore people; they're also Americans, and therefore part of the people that matter.
We are told that nobody's equal until we have equal love, and we claim the mantle of righteousness. Then we hear words of triumphant hate and condescension for our political and class enemies. The message is incoherent without the right set of definitions, yet deemed coherent by the faithful and perceived as undisputed only because iconoclasts have a short half-life in any party, especially among the zealous.