I think I must have understood all of this wrong. I always believed being against racism was a form of patriotism. I always believed being for women's equality was a form of patriotism. I always believed that being against religious discrimination was a form of patriotism.
Was I really so stupid? Was I wrong? Did I serve the U.S. military for 6 years based on my own stupid misunderstanding of the nation I thought I loved?
Patriotism is the willingness to defend the country. Serving in the military for 6 years was patriotism. Those other things you mention are not patriotism. As for the nation you thought you loved, it is in one way exemplified by the Pledge of Allegiance.
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Many cringe at the inclusion of “under God” but it is my favorite part. It establishes that in the nation’s eyes there is a hierarchy. The nation is beneath God. It is lower and less important than God. The nation is a thing but it is not the most important thing even in its own Pledge of Allegiance.
God isn’t defined. It can be a magic man in the sky if you want or it can be the core of whatever you value. The Pledge also doesn’t ask that God is the only thing above the nation. It could be the nation under a really great bacon cheeseburger with crispy bacon slathered with a tangy barbeque sauce. This nation gives you the freedom to value the fight against racism, or women’s equality, or being against religious discrimination above the nation itself. Patriotism isn’t defending those things. It is defending the freedom that allows you to defend those things and understanding that other people will make lists a little different from yours.
What our nation is and that aspect of the nation not being the most important thing can be easy to forget or take for granted but that is not how everyone else lives. There is a new report out of China that should shock absolutely no one. We all know about the Uighurs being rounded up into reeducation camps to have the Islam educated out of them but it appears that all religious institutions are under similar if less draconian pressure. All churches in China must teach the values of the China Communist Party above the values of their respective religions. It is one nation above all else, even God.
I love this country. I am not blind to its faults, some of them truly egregious. That some want to focus obsessively on those ugly pieces is great. No, really! It is great because they have the freedom to do exactly that which means I have the freedom to value the things I do. That is what your patriotism and your 6 years defended. With all sincerity, thank you for your service.
