Proper Patriotism

"Love becomes a demon when it becomes a god."

-M. de Rougemont

Patriotism, when perverted into nationalism, becomes poisonous. When we become deceived by the myth of our own superiority we become capable of unspeakable acts; we who become gods become demons. For Christians, nationalism is especially dangerous because all too often it replaces that love that belongs to the Church or even to God. True religion is due only to God and not to our nation. Our joy must be in our God and not our country. Nationalism is what causes good Christian men to forget the commands "love thy neighbor as thy self" or "love one another as I have loved you." There is no more tragic cause of this than the multitude of German Christians who mistook Nazi national renewal for Christian renewal, for their nationalism and Christian faith become intertwined, and could thus reconcile the extermination of millions of Jews with Christian ethics. Nationalism can cause Christians to become prideful. St. Augustine’s fundamental message in his monumental City of God is that the patria of Christians is not on earth but in heaven. Christians must always remember that true love country must be according to the apostle's command: "Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant."

C. S. Lewis on nationalism: "If there were no broken treaties with the Redskins, no extermination of the Tasmanians, no gas chambers and no Belsen, no Amrisar, Black and Tans or Apartheid, the pomposity…would be a roaring farce."

Qualities of Proper Patriotism

*Love of home - This is our love of the familiar; of national particularities. It is our love of the land. It is our corporate sharing of a familiar culture; our love of baseball, apple pie, the English language, and the Fourth of July. Our love for our nation should mirror our love of our home. America is our country and the land is our land. It is what enables a Californian to feel closer to a Pennsylvanian than he would a European. This is quality in patriotism that enables us to fight for our patria and protect it from the foreigner.

*Sense of duty - We are not born into this world autonomous. We depend on others to nurture us and bring is to maturity. We rely on our country for protection, for a job, for survival, for socialization. We owe certain duties to the government, the military, and the local police who protect us; to the land that provides us with food and shelter; to the communities and institutions that bring us to maturity. For all that our country has done for us we owe it love.

*Tradition - In the same way we owe much to those who presently occupy our country so we also owe much to those who occupied it formerly. For everything we inherit at our birth is the creation of our ancestors. The nation of the past, in addition to the nation of the present, contributes to our well-being. This is seen in the stories of the pioneers who settled new American lands and of the immigrants who, with their distinct skills, melted into the American way of life.

*National virtues - Few nations are devoid of virtues and it should be a nation's privilege and joy to have pride those virtues. This should not be a snobby or arrogant pride that smacks of pretensions to national superiority. It should be like a father who has pride in his son. It is wholly good to cherish the hard-work, the strength, and the honesty of the American people; as long as we remember that America has no monopoly on virtue and it is far from sainthood.