St. Pat's Day has me thinking about the mental power of ethnicity.

[Deep13]

As a mostly Anglo-American and a non-Catholic, I haven't ever celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Nothing against it, just not my thing. My own blood is roughly half English/Yankee, 1/8 German and the rest French. This of course means that my circulatory system is at war with itself. I'm a biological battle of Waterloo, or WWI, or Franco-Prussian war or 100 Year's War. And it's not like one parent was one thing and the other the other two things. It's all mixed up for many generations. There is so much historical animosity among the French, the English and the Germans that if I were inclined to ancestral pride and ancestral animosity, I would have to hate myself.

Fortunately, there is a way out of that. I reject the idea of ancestral offense just as I reject original sin. I've never oppressed anyone and no other ethnic group has oppressed me. People are responsible for their own actions (including anything bad happening now or in living memory), but not for those of their parents.

In that spirit, I would like to offer a virtual toast to all those who celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I trust you will not mind if I toast your Jameson's with my Scotch or my cognac since we are all friends here.

:toast: :party: :bounce: :think: :beer:

[ceile]

1. It's "Jameson"

That is all....

[Deep13]

2. Sorry. I have a pretty loose grip on spelling sometimes.

:blush:

You should have seen how I spelled "cognac" before I ran it through the checker.

[ceile]

3. !

:spray:

[Zomby Woof]

4. I am the all-American mongrel

Polish, German, Scots-Irish, English, French, and who knows what else, from both Protestant and Catholic lines. Probably more typical than not.

I am an atheist myself, but I love the color green, Celtic music, Guinness stout, Jameson whiskey, and allow myself to be a sucker for the holiday.

But I don't drink green beer, and as an L.A. Lakers fan, I hate the Boston Celtics with a passion. :D

Plus, I don't want to disappoint my Great-Grandmother Malone, LOL.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. What's bizarre for me is Hallmark-y St. Pat's celebration in areas without Irish settlements.

Until I moved to CA I had always lived in communities with strong Irish immigrant ties. Where I live now was never an Irish-American area. It's not at all an ethnic remembrance, it's just a fun day to wear green, talk of leprechauns, and for the adults, drinking.

I find it both bizarre and amusing.

[redqueen]

6. If only all the confederate flag-wavers would do the same re: MLK day...

and there are other analogies as well.

[orion007]

7. St. Patrick was Italian, born in Scotland to Roman parents n/t

[redqueen]

8. ... which has fuckall to do with ethnic tension in the present day.

:hi:

[Deep13]

15. I'm not a confederate flag-waver or analogous to one...

...and I think you know that.

[BeachBaby]

9. I'm 1/2 German, 1/2 Polish.

If I were to allow my ancestral history to dictate my mentality, I'd be all kinds of confused. :P

[Zomby Woof]

14. I have a lot of Polish and German background

I invade myself every September.

[Debi]

10. Being a German/Italian Catholic I don't even want to think about it!

Of course if you ask my ex-husband he's been oppressed since the day he met me, the poor dear x(

[FloridaJudy]

11. I'm half Scots/Irish and half Russian

I should go get drunk and invade Poland.

[datasuspect]

12. i'm a big throbbing hairy hunk of american here

[Inchworm]

13. In the spirit of the holiday

I'll drink with ya.

:beer:

And kiss your mommy.

:*

:yoiks:











:rofl::bounce: