What is Patriotism?

Rev. Mark Skrabacz

July, 1, 2012

On the Sunday before the Independence Day holiday, let’s examine the idea of patriotism and its varying degrees, interpretations and practices. We like to think we are patriotic. How do we define patriotism? What does it mean?

One of your members recently sent these words that describe something of patriotism. I believe they are what many of us feel and think. Let me share them. “As July 4th approaches, I imagine most of you, like myself, will at some point pause to again honor and revere the courage and wisdom of our founding fathers. As I grew up, I developed a basic faith in the goodness of my country. And a deep, reverent loyalty to our country’s symbols, celebrations and institutions. And a trusting faith that our government would honor and enshrine in its actions the greatness of the universal principles embodied in our Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. This I essentially once took for granted. Over the years I’ve come to finally fully appreciate that our Constitutional Republic does indeed need a fully informed public to survive.” I’d like to add “and fully involved.” While the writer continues with concerns about the transparency of our government and our own willingness as a self-governing people to question our administration, let’s continue our inquiry into patriotismwith the symbol of our flag.

Have you noticed how much the Stars and Stripes are ever-present in political campaigns? Apparently to remind us of the candidates’ patriotism. The more flags showing the better: whole rows of flags, everyone in the camera’s view waving a hand-held flag. And heaven help the candidate who fails to wear the American Flag Pin on his or her lapel. Never mind that that pin was in all likelihood fabricated in an overseas sweatshop, along with the various decal ribbons proclaiming support for our troops. I guess the theory is that without the symbol, one can’t be sure the candidate, or anyone for that matter, is truly a patriot. This conjures personal memories for me of the Vietnam era “America…Love it or leave it” bumper stickers. Seems like some of those are still on cars in Texas towns.

The notion that patriotism consists of paying homage to symbols isn’t new. Governments have made this type of appeal throughout history. The Nazi movement in 1930’s Germany was fueled by symbolism. Stirring music, massive displays of uniformed men and military hardware…impressive and a trigger for mob mentality.

I think a person’s interpretation of the word “patriotism” tells much about that person’s views and era. Note that: Pro slavery was once patriotic; pro labor union was un-American. The latter sentiment is arising again along with a number of issues many of us thought long gone. Some in the media, public office, and other sources, tell us that one’s degree of patriotism is governed by the degree to which they believe our country is the only repository of good in this world. Many of these people harken to the good old days when America was the world’s beacon for liberty and success, and it just isn’t any more. How do we feel about that? If your religion is Nationalism, you’ll probably be very upset.

“Patriotism” wears many disguises in America. Some equate patriotism with religion. They have a goal of shaping every aspect of our culture in accordance with Biblical laws, especially politics. We have seen plenty of pressure from the religious right. Who would’ve thought that contraception would become an issue in 2012? Today, being for marriage equality is looked upon by some as, “godless, barbaric and unpatriotic.” Marginalizing people who hold minority or no religious views, is “patriotic.” The list continues.

So, how do we UUs define patriotism? The simple “my country right or wrong” brand is easy as are all simplistic answers. We UUs have a long history of Civil Disobedience as a more complex form of patriotism. How many laws did Thoreau or Dr. King break to further the cause of justice? Who made the full text of the Pentagon Papers available for scholars and libraries by publishing them in book form? When excerpts from the papers were leaked to newspapers, President Nixon used every tactic, legal and illegal, to suppress publication, forming the infamous team of “plumbers” to track down the leak. Such tactics eventually triggered the Watergate scandal that drove Nixon out of office. Patriotic UUs had a major role in that.

UUs find respecting unpopular points of view is patriotic, and threatening those views is not. Would wearing a flag pin make me a patriot?…or is patriotism believing in what that flag was meant to represent? So many who use that flag pin as a litmus test seem to feel that when I voice opposition to policies I believe are wrong I am unpatriotic. What would Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Thomas Paine do? Well. We KNOW what they did when they tired of paying homage to an unresponsive government.

I think most would agree that Jefferson was an American Patriot. Yet Jefferson opined that it was the right…no….the RESPONSIBILITY, of the citizenry to monitor the actions of our government, and when necessary, remove that government. I think we know that today there are whole media outlets with the mission of criticizing and removing our present government. Does that make them patriotic?

It might be nice to be considered “patriotic.” If only I could believe that my country ALWAYS did the right thing. If only I trusted our leaders or our Supreme Court to uphold constitutional rights. If I could believe that the lack of concern shown while New Orleans was drowning had nothing to do with a disregard for poor and powerless people. And if I could believe our leaders only went to war as a last resort, I might be considered patriotic. But I can’t do those things; if I did, it wouldn’t be patriotic. It would be an insult to the founding principles of America, and paying homage to the SYMBOLS of America, while trashing the idealism upon which it was founded. And that would be dishonest.

There are those who seem to assert a strong influence in politics now who now call themselves “social conservatives.” People like the American Family Association spokesperson Brian Fischer who has a favorite theme that homosexual behavior has always been a matter of choice. He quotes a scientific study that shows concordance of homosexuality between identical twins to be only 6%. He says: “If one of them is gay and it’s genetically caused, the other one ought to be gay 100% of the time.” Fischer is not only an extremist. He also ignores contrary statistics. For instance in 2003, psychologists at the University of London performed a meta-analysis of 6 studies involving concordance of identical twins and reported a range of 30-65%, far greater than the average occurrence of homosexuality in the population at large. They concluded their evidence strongly suggests a heritable component. Many UUs would resonate with this information. That’s why we are “standing on the side of love,” as a political action.

That’s a part of how we are patriotic. I don’t know too many UUs who take the position that blind obedience and displaying of symbols represent patriotism. Waving the flag doesn’t take much thought…just some muscle. Maybe that’s the difference between those who long for a country steeped in economic and military power as patriotic, as opposed to those who feel that it is the patriotic DUTY of each of us to examine and evaluate…and to oppose power when appropriate. We wonder about the difficulty of UU’s to proselytize. I think our lack of absolutes hinders us in that, as well as an inability to fit today’s definition of patriotism. Free thought and no dogma. That’s our mission. So be it.

Listen to those who promote “my country right or wrong”, and they’ll accuse anyone who questions our country’s stance on human rights as being un-American. And part of their view is the effort to merge religion with the government. They ask, why can’t we just have a national religion? To many it’s an integral component of patriotism. If you aren’t a Christian, can you be patriotic? Can an atheist be patriotic? Not according to Fox News. Simply inferring that a candidate is Muslim is enough of a smear. Remember John Kennedy’s Catholic faith 50 years ago. I wonder how much the presumptive Republican candidate’s Mormon faith will affect his campaign? Could our founders, who specifically stated that this country was NEVER to have a religious test for public office abide this? But then, the talk of repealing portions of the Constitution seems very patriotic. Could a UU pass the Presidential candidacy test today? I don’t think so. And while this country was clearly built on a secular foundation, reactionary voices now spout out the term “secular humanist” or “non-believer” as a curse. Most religions are based on some really wonderful suppositions. (Often called ‘facts’ or ‘truth.’) Each attempts to tell what is good and what is evil. How I should live and what I must reject. So many memorize these rules, while forgetting the central tenet shared by every religion. It starts like this ‘Do unto others….’

But as some polititions have perverted democracy, so have some clergy perverted religion. Rather than exercise the Golden Rule, they spend time judging others, and segregating them by whatever is at the time convenient: sexual orientation, political philosophy, and whatever self-serving interpretation of scripture is. Gays sex is an abomination…Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. will all burn in hell. It is my sacred duty to compel you to believe as I do. And if I fail to convince you, then I have to kill you. (of course, I do so for your own good.) In the name of God, they pervert religion. I think that philosophy makes religion a sham. Hindus and Buddhists preach universal love without judgment of others…which is more humane. But most of us haven’t evolved to the point where we can practice that.

Patriotism is probably a good thing. But maybe a sharper definition would help. Here are a few thoughts in closing. I’m certain you can add your own.

Believing my country can lead the world towards PEACE is more patriotic than knowing we can vanquish anyone in war: I think the many thousands of citizens who took to the streets prior to the invasion of Iraq were patriots in the true spirit of our founders. It is patriotic to recognize and HONOR the separation of religious belief from the governing of our country. Keeping in mind how many came to America to escape regimes where the line between government and religion was blurred, or simply ignored. The rights of the minority must never be compromised by the will of the majority…to do otherwise is un-patriotic and anathema to the constitution. I believe torture is un-American, as is the de facto repeal of the right of Habeas Corpus, and that this Nation was founded on the premise that it be ruled by laws and not by men. George Washington was offered the position of king. His wise refusal was a lesson: we do not benefit by mimicking that which we despise. And yet we hear constantly that “Well, they do it, so why shouldn’t we?” A true patriot would say that by mimicking that with which we disagree is surrendering. We do not spread democracy by ignoring democratic ideals. When we become what we purport to fight against, we are committing treason. And that treason is no less so when our leaders do it. And when we send our children off to fight and die in wars of choice, it may be hubris, or empire building, or result in material gain… but it is NOT patriotism.

Will history judge those who speak out against war as traitors or patriots? What of those in support the right of every loving couple to be married. Barbaric? And, is there any doubt upon which side of those issues many UUs stand? Is it patriotic, as many have in the past few years, to continually call for the failure of a President during his office? Blocking his appointments and stifling his ideas? That is antithetical to both democracy AND religion. I cannot believe in that.

So I’m acknowledging this symbol (pointing to the flag). I’m unwilling to cede this flag to those who subvert its ideals. It’s my flag, and I’ll honor it because of the principles it was meant to represent. When we decide that this nation must be a force for good, we deserve the title patriot. In the family of nations we will act as any good family member. Treating others with understanding when we have differences is patriotic. And I hope that those who would call themselves patriots will recognize that the kind of patriotism this flag was meant to represent is: respect and love, not swagger and torture. Airplanes dropping food and water and medicine, not bombs. A government that is committed to resolving differences thru diplomacy and discussion, not threats. I would hope that our efforts might be a beginning to show the rest of the world the America we were always meant to be. Patriotism will have prevailed. If we do this, all the world and all the world’s gods will join us in blessing America.

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