You wrote:

“Pride is a sin. You didn’t create those values. You have nothing to be proud of. You and I didn’t create America. When you get to be in your 70’s, then you can afford to look back and be proud or not.”

I don’t believe in “sins,” but translating this into language that makes sense to me, I’ll take it to mean that you think displaying pride in the culture and values of one’s civilization is somehow untoward or uncalled for unless one has contributed markedly to the creation of that culture and values. And, you know, generally speaking, I’d actually agree with that. I’m not one of those people who believes in hanging an American flag on my porch, gets teary-eyed when the Star-Spangled Banner is played or feels an upsurge of pride when the U.S. Constitution is bandied about. I don’t feel much of an allegiance to this or that national culture. What I do feel a strong allegiance to is what Matthew Arnold referred to as “the best which has been thought and said [and created] in the world.” I believe our greatest philosophy, literature, art, music, science and technology are worth revering and standing up for. And when there are hordes of ignorant barbarians out there now who don’t understand what these things are all about and want to run them down as no more than products of oppression, I also believe I am doing God’s work, as it were, by trying my best to offer a different perspective aimed against these anti-intellectual Philistines.

To say this a different way, if you believe pride is a sin, you should also believe that wrath and jealousy are sins, and those are the two sins being exhibited in spades by those who resent the greatness of Western culture. All I’m doing is defending something that’s worthy of being defended.