In a flash, I suddenly get it. I suddenly understand why un-Australian, un-American, un-Christian and basically un-(add your team of choice here) are considered insults. All it took was reading some creationist dreck, but I get it now. Oh, it's still as stupid as I first thought, but now I understand it, at least on the personal level. I've been promoted from courtier, it seems.
Humans are social species, I get it. Lamentably, that entails spending an extended period of time in society (/shudder) if you feel like enjoying creature comforts of any kind. I hear it's hard for swamp-bound hermits to get good 'net. But more than the availability of electric guitars and porn (the cornerstones of civilisation), society offers something more primal to humans; social interaction and safety. It's up there on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, nestled somewhere between shelter and self-actualisation if memory serves. Psychologically, we need acceptance and security, just as we need food, water, air and shelter.
And this is why un-(place/belief) is a horrible insult if you mean it, and a stupid thing to hear if you're smart. If you really, truly believe what you said, what you're essentially saying is "your behaviour should disqualify you from the safety and acceptance this community provides." Of course, this only works if the person is thick enough to be devout and/or patriotic. You notice no-one ever says that something is "un-Swedish" or "un-atheist" or "un-liberal"? Why would they? It makes no sense. Inherently conservative groups like fundamental religion and nations like Australia and the US work on an "if you want to be a part of this group, then you have to think like us!" basis, whereas inherently liberal groups like atheists, swedes, liberals and even religious moderates work on an "if you think like us, I guess you're part of the group" basis. The difference is, conservative groups threaten dissidents with expulsion, whereas other groups, by and large, don't give two shits.
It's always funny when I get called un-blank. I've been called un-Australian, and I couldn't care less. I'm here as an accident of birth, and at this point I possess neither the means nor the desire to leave. As a nation, it has a lot of faults and a lot of things I find undesirable, but it also has a lot of good aspects. If it's un-Australian to point out obvious flaws and suggest improvements, then hell, call me un-Australian all you fucking like, I don't care. But it seems to me the "un-Australian" ones are trying to improve the country, while the true 'straaahlyans are busy being racist shits with very little invested in the future of the nation. Just sayin'.
I'm pretty left leaning, but I'd say I'm still a centrist in that I think a heavily regulated but still essentially free market would probably work better in the long term than a full on, government controlled market, and I'm sure a lot of full-on socialists would call me un-socialist (if there is such a thing) for this view, and again, I don't care. Thing is, if I talk to politically savvy folks that do not choose to align themselves with one party or another, the discussion is normally much more satisfying, there tends to be much more agreement, and at the end, we tend to be friends even if we do disagree. Inadvertently, a small (sometimes only two people, but they grow), another community is formed. A community with the meme "you're here for personality, not beliefs." The discussion can be about anything, the only thing you need to do is not be a shithead. An education helps too. And that, children, is why it doesn't bum me out when I get kicked out of your little cult.
Bringing it all around, it's a nasty thing to say and to hear if you're a clingy sheep that desperately needs some superficial community to sustain you, as you seem to be unable to form your own network of friends and supporters without a healthy dose of indoctrination. To someone who doesn't fit that descrition, it's about as lame as referring to someone as a godless liberal as an insult; if someone really is a godless liberal, why would they give a shit?
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