Scottishness and identity

[rebornscot]

Mate your as much Scottish as the pope is Scottish so belt up and give it a rest! Take it from me a real Scotsman

[McHan]

Originally Posted by oneofthefew

How can you possibly be mostly Scottish if, by your own arguement, you would be mostly British:

Incredible. I am not British, since that word MERELY describes nationality. I don't have a British passport, and don't want one. Arabs, Persians, Ethiopians, Jamaicans, Japanese, Korean... anyone with these or any other ETHNICITY could be as British as you if they random circumstances of their birthplace are right. "Scottish" does NOT refer to nationality. There IS NO SUCH THING as a Scottish NATIONALITY (except maybe in rugby!) :P

I am Scottish in the only way that someone can be Scottish (unless you are abusing the term and using it to refer merely to the neighborhood you live in, regardless of your ethnic identity, heritage, etc.)

I cannot understand how this is lost on so many people. Scottishness is NOT citizenship, nor passport, nor even nationality. It is an ethnicity. Granted, like other ethnicities, it has had many ingredients (Pict, Gael, Brython, Norse, etc.). I am a person who ETHNICALLY has those ingredients. I also have a few "new" ones.

You seem to enjoy confusing categories (which is a logical fallacy). Scottishness is not a nationality. One of my best friends is part of the Hungarian minority which has been living within the boundaries of Romania for hundreds of years. She is Hungarian. She considers herself Hungarian. Hungarians from Hungary consider her Hungarian... yet, by nationality, she is Romanian. Nationality is as randpom as straight lines drawn on a map. Family, however, is family, regardless of which side of that map they wind up. I am part of the Scottish family. Why are some in Scotland so hesitant to accept one of their own? It is beyond me.

By the way, exactly what crown of England would that be? Surely the queen is the monarch of Britain, not just England!

Apparently history is lost on you as well. Sure. She's the monarch of all lands claimed by the empire. God bless her and long live the Queen! Again, you miss the point.

[oneofthefew]

As much as I don't agree with rebornscot on much I have to say I think his answer above is quite accurate. Maybe you should read it and try to understand it McHan. The fact is, you are NOT Scottish no matter how much you try to convince us otherwise!

[McHan]

Originally Posted by Babz

You are saying you are not arguementative...but you are sailing close to the wind for a newcomer
to the site !!
I would say that you are blinkered and whatever anyone says to you, you will not take any notice !!

Take it from one who knows......you are not Scottish just because your ancestors were, it doesn't work that way !!

Yes, it DOES work that way. One is Scottish BECAUSE one's ancestors were. Same reason one is Jewish (speaking of the ethnic identity, not Judaism). Same reason one is Japanese. OBVIOUSLY there are exceptions, such as mixed marriages and adoptions. Neverthless, one is Scottish because one's family is Scottish. That's how it works.

You are advocating non-universal, historically arbitrary, and very rescindible political criteria for claiming a NATIONALITY (place of birth, passport held by parents, etc.). You might be surprised to know that every country has different rules and policies about nationality (both "natural" and "naturalized" nationality). Once again, you can stick your nationality where the Sun is reluctant to shine. It is NOT the issue. I won't think less (or more) of you if you are a British or an Argentinian or a Tongan national (the passport you hold). For that matter, I wouldn't think less of you if you happened to be a Scottish Briton, an Indian Briton, a Jamaican Briton, or have any other ETHNICITY to go with your NATIONALITY.

It is WAY beyond my grasp how you people cannot understand the difference between the two concepts.

And before you claim *I* am being feisty (too feisty for a newbie upstart), maybe you should review the posts directed at me, even before I had written anything. You claim it's not bigotry? um... do words mean anything anymore?

[oneofthefew]

Originally Posted by McHan

maybe you should review the posts directed at me, even before I had written anything...

How could anything possibly be directed at you before you had written anything? Sounds like an extreme case of paranoia to me!

[McHan]

Originally Posted by oneofthefew

How could anything possibly be directed at you before you had written anything? Sounds like an extreme case of paranoia to me!

OK, add "paranoia" to your list of abusive barbs.

I'll spell it out for you, though. Imagine a black man happening upon a forum where a consensus of posters have been writing things like "Blacks have no business thinking they are as [human/smart/real/rightful, whatever] as us REAL human beings, the white folk." Hmm, something directed right at him, even before he had written his first post. And you might guess his first post might be a tad aggressive, even defensive.

[Matthew-C]

I think it is time someone is ignored,let him preach to himself for a while