15th October 2017

It's good to love your country. Yet, yet...
   In France Macron has agreed that French should no longer use the masculine domination of grammatical gender - a form of 'sexual tyranny' - to be replaced by a new gender-neutral version 'ecriture inclusive'. Normally, French plurals use the masculine form if both genders are involved, but now a plural like amis (friends of both genders) will become 'ami.e.s'. However, as expected, many are the French voices of dissent, including the prestigious, but traditionalist, Academie Francaise. In the US and S. Africa, many are the statues of past 'heroes' that are being pulled down due to changed, current views about race and slavery. And what of ME countries where women are still being subjugated due to traditional practices and where men are traditionally expected to behave in a particular way?
....So the question is:  how can good citizens swear an oath of allegiance if that very country's traditions are no longer relevant today? Those who love their country become good citizens based on their love of the traditions of the past, but what to do when so many of those traditions are now no longer relevant? Do we, like Macron, tear up the rule book or, by so doing, do we destroy the very fabric of what makes a country great?