[@The Harbinger of Ferocity]

I've always found the whole pledge of allegiance thing to be a little creepy.

I do usually stand when people sing the national anthem at sporting events and such because its considerably easier than paying the social cost of not doing so and it is a tradition that cost me little to accommodate.

I certainly object to anyone who protests at a funeral for any reason. That kind of behavior is just disgusting. Soldiers should be respected, as they take terrible risks for little reward in at least the notion of the public good.

In my mind they country that you are born in is arbitrary. If I had been born in Bangladesh I doubt I would develop some deep spiritual bond to it. There are things about countries that I like and things about countries that I dislike but those things tend to be true of multiple nations. For example freedom of expression is important to me personally so I tend towards Western democracies which share those values but I don't attach that positive feeling to 'America' or 'Britain' or any other nation. It is just a trade off list of things I like vs things I dislike to me.

This is certainly a very privileged position as I recognize not everyone can just pick up an move between countries more or less at will. Maybe if I were stuck in one country I'd be more invested in it.