Patriotism Pains

Every morning, we have to stand and say the pledge, well actually that's not completely true, we don't have to stand and say it, but almost everyone does every morning anyways.  I want to say that we do it to be patriotic and show our love of America, but honestly that's not why most of us stand and say it; we stand up and recite the pledge because everyone else does and that's what is accepted.  I'm not saying that we aren't patriotic, because I know that I am patriotic, it's just that blindly reciting something that we learned in pre-k shouldn't be considered patriotic.  

Some people believe that patriotism is always good and no one can be too patriotic, which is ok because everyone is entitled to their own views, but personally I disagree.  There are times when being too patriotic is a bad thing. Is it ok to kill innocent people just because their country's views oppose yours or their country hates yours? I don't think that violence should be the first response to anything, because violence just breeds hate.  

Malcolm X said "You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it."  This quote basically states that you can be patriotic but also a good person, but it depends on how far you are willing to go in the name of your country. There are things that everyone can do to support their country and show off their pride, but how far is too far?