I was walking to the shower this morning when I started to think about patriotism. With Obama getting the nod from the Dems, the struggle for leadership begins - and as voters and citizens we begin to reevaluate what issues are primary.
No pun intended.
Who’s a patriot? What is a patriot? What constitutes patriotism? Wikipedia and the Dictionary told me it’s basically a strong loyalty or allegiance to a particular country - ones ‘fatherland’. So the question I was asking myself this morning was: ‘is patriotism loyalty to a geo-political state, or is it a submission to a particular morality and way of governance?’
If the latter is the case, then which time period do we pledge allegiance to? To which of the ethical convictions of the founding fathers do we consider worthy of our ‘patriotism’? Shall we consider ourselves patriots upholding the moral convictions of our current State?
If the former be the case, there are many more questions to be raised. Does this promote an imperialistic mentality? Is that really what we want, Francis Schaeffer? I think this is often the case as we use and attempt to define ‘patriotism’. Advance America as the ‘last best hope of Earth’?
I am glad to live in the United States. I value my freedom and liberties - and I believe they ought to be afforded to all men and women regardless of national affiliation. But.. does patriotism have to be an either/or? Might we release our elitist mentality and begin to see ourselves as parts of a whole?
Can patriotism be felt towards a Kingdom citizenship? What if patriotism was for a fatherland that encouraged unity and a holistic mentality to value a global social equality?
What do you think?