Monday, May 29, 2017

A Good Patriot Seeks to Remove the Evils from His Land

There is a level of patriotism we should always offer. Support of country should exist, to some degree, despite the faults that nation might have. It is a little like a parent with a child. The parent loves the child regardless what the child does.
So it is, we should love America, even if it has warts.
But, I think this also: There is such a thing as blind patriotism. To vehemently support your country, regardless the vices of that nation, can become a vice in and of itself. Yes, you usually should go ahead and support the laws even if they seem wrong. We cannot pick and choose the laws we think just, and obey only them, for that would be chaos. Even so, a child might obey the parent, regardless though the parent be wrong. But, there is a limit. If a child's parent were to ask him to murder, we'd say that is going too far. Even so with our nation, there should be limits on our support. For one thing, if a law is unjust, while we might obey it, we need not become its cheerleader.
We speak of blind obedience and wonder whether it is good. Even so, we should not be blindly devoted to a nation, regardless what that nation does.
And, it is the same with our political parties. If we support them blindly, and regardless, that is not wise. I think it not wrong to mention this in a post on patriotism, for people are often more patriotic to their parties than they are to their nation.
The past year has seen Colin Kaepernick protest what he sees as the faults of our nation by not standing and placing his hand on his heart as the National Anthem is sung. I do not foresee myself ever doing as he does. But, I do not fault Kaepernick. In his eyes, we have faults needing correction if we are to be the nation he desires us to be.
It is not a renunciation or repudiation of our nation by Kaepernick. Rather, it is just his way of rebuking us for what he sees as our faults. If you want to correct a child, you might lightly slap his hands. I see Kaepernick doing nothing worse.
A good patriot is not the one who supports the wrongs of a nation, but the one who seeks to remove them. A good patriot seeks to cleanse the evils from his land.   

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