• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • My Story
  • Resources
    • Books
    • Films
    • Videos
    • Websites
    • Companies
    • Quotes
    • Images
    • Life Beacons
  • My Other Sites
    • Use 10 Percent Less
    • FabHappy
    • Peter Whiting At Home (and elsewhere)
  • Contact

Life in the Right Direction

Self-Care - Spirituality - Wellness - Science

We Are America – Love Has No Labels

September 9, 2016 by Peter 2 Comments

We Are America

We Are America is a short video from the Ad Council featuring John Cena. 

I was really surprised by the power of this message. John Cena is a professional WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment??) wrestler and he speaks very powerfully and passes on a very clear message in this short video. It really struck me how a big tough guy like John Cena talked about the link between love and patriotism. A country can only work if there is love between all its citizens, no matter their background. This reminded me on the sentiments I put in my recent article – Terrorism : How the world can respond

We Are America is  just 3 minutes long. Watch it right here or read the transcript at the bottom.


Three of my favourite quotes from this video are;

Love. For a word designed to unite, it can also be pretty divisive.

Patriotism is love for a country, not just pride in it… What is it we love?… It’s the people.

This year patriotism shouldn’t just be about pride of country. It should be about love. Love beyond age, disability, sexuality, race, religion, and any other labels.

But the whole thing is very powerful. Congratulations to John Cena and the Ad Council for creating We Are America – such a powerful video to remind everyone of what’s important. It’s amazing how quickly we can forget.

Transcript – We Are America

Patriotism. There’s a word thrown around a lot.
It inspires passionate debate and is worn like a badge of honor.
And with good reason. Because it means love and devotion for one’s country. Love.
For a word designed to unite, it can also be pretty divisive.
You see, there’s more to patriotism than flag sequined onesies, and rodeos, and quadruple cheeseburgers. Patriotism is love for a country, not just pride in it.
But what really makes up this country of ours? What is it we love? It’s more than a huge rock full of animals like cougars and eagles, right?
It’s the people. Do me a favor and close your eyes for a second.
I want to try something out. Picture the average U.S. citizen.
Think about it. How old are they? What’s their hair like?
How much can they bench? Got one? Ok.
So, the chances are the person you’re picturing right now looks a little different to the real average American.
There are 319 million U.S. citizens. 51% are female. So, first off, the average American is a woman. Cool huh. Is that what you pictured?
54 million are Latino. 40 million are senior citizens.
27 million are disabled. 18 million are Asian (that’s more people in the U.S. than play football and baseball combined)
9 million are lesbian, gay, bi, or transgender. More than the entire amount of people that live in the state of Virginia. Around 10 million are redheaded.
5.1 million play Ultimate Frisbee. And 3 and a half million are Muslim. Triple the number of people currently serving in the United States military.
Almost half the country belongs to minority groups.
People who are lesbian. African American. And bi. And transgender. And Native American.
And proud of it! We know that labels don’t devalue us, they help define us: keeping us dialed in to our cultures, and our beliefs, and who we are. As Americans. After all, what’s more American than the freedom to celebrate the things that make us us?
I mean, it’s stitched into the stars and stripes of this country, from the Constitution, to Gettysburg, to our motto, “E Pluribus Unum”, from many, one. It’s even in our country’s name – the UNITED States.
This year patriotism shouldn’t just be about pride of country.
It should be about love. Love beyond age, disability, sexuality, race, religion, and any other labels. Because the second any of us judge people based on those labels, we’re not really being patriotic, are we?
So let’s try this one more time. Close your eyes, picture that average Joe, or Joan, or Juan, or Jean-Luc. The real people who make America America.
And this year, whenever you feel the urge to don star spangled shorts, or set off fireworks the size of my biceps, to show love for our country, remember that to love America is to love all Americans.
Because love has no labels.

Filed Under: Videos Tagged With: oneness, tolerance

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wade Browne says

    March 27, 2018 at 2:06 pm

    I LOVE THIS. I have never heard a message so clearly inbiased and so plainly all-inclusive! I served in Desert Storm and I hoped patriotism was something I understood. I know I get it now!

    PS. Thanx John Cena. You make my chest swell with pride again.

    Reply
    • Peter says

      March 27, 2018 at 5:31 pm

      Thanks for the comment Wade, and very well said! The love has no labels campaign is a really positive one.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Peter Whiting. For my whole life I've been a scientist, but my life has taken a new track. Starting about 8 years ago, I began to realise that so much of our standard way of living just isn't right. We need to become more aware, press the reset button and try to live life in the right direction.

You’ve been successfully subscribed to our newsletter!

Recent Posts

  • Energy prices and our broken economy
  • Life, down for the count
  • COP26 – In Your Hands
  • The Natural Thermostat and CO2
  • Committing to a practice
  • Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
  • Essentialism – The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
  • Why Is It So Important to Watch Your Nutrition During Lockdown?
  • Life is worth the heartache
  • The importance of the pale blue dot
  • The Great Realisation
  • How to Bring Out Your Natural Beauty During Uncertain Times
  • China should have stopped it – a fallacy
  • Bee a Human
  • How science connects the world
  • That beautiful space between everything
  • Taking care of everyone during this pandemic
  • My wish: Help me stop pandemics
  • What is truly important?
  • Everything must change

Footer

  • Home
  • My Story
  • Resources
    • Books
    • Films
    • Videos
    • Websites
    • Companies
    • Quotes
    • Images
    • Life Beacons
  • My Other Sites
    • Use 10 Percent Less
    • FabHappy
    • Peter Whiting At Home (and elsewhere)
  • Contact

Tag Cloud

advertising agriculture alcohol CO2 compassion conscious mind consciousness detoxification diet emotions EQ exercise fasting global warming greenhouse gases happiness knowledge life direction lifestyle love medicine meditation mental health mind mindfulness nature nutrition oneness pesticides pollution quantum physics raw food respect science spirituality stress subconscious subconscious mind TED toxins unconditional love vegan visualization weightloss wellbeing

Search

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · FabHappy Limited