Thursday, July 05, 2007
Raising responsible citizens -- patriots
We celebrated the 4th, yesterday, in our traditional way: Rhonda organized the neighborhood parade – this year with both a firetruck and a squad car! -- and picnic, complete with goody bags, games, prizes and pinatas for the little ones and great food and great conversation for us older ones. The kids decorated their bikes and rode in the parade, then decorated themselves with patriotic wash-off tatoos at the picnic. After sunset, the neighbors gathered with lawn chairs to watch fireworks. The feeling of kinship among the neighbors and the feeling of celebration in all out events are things I’m happy my children are experiencing, because I think it will help make patriots of them.
As I had that thought, watching the kids play in the grass as the fireworks lit up the sky, a fear crept over me. I have a fear that growing up in this particular phase of our nation’s history will leave them confused over what it means to be patriotic. Grownups all around them, some very visible, some leading our nation, are confusing nationalism with patriotism, and it’s got to be tough for a kid to sort it out.
In my book, patriotism is a great and beautiful thing; nationalism is a bad and ugly thing.
Patriots are proud of their country for the ideals to which it aspires, the values it holds dear and the good that it does – which leads to a feeling of responsibility, both for what we do and who we are today and for what we want to do and be tomorrow
Nationalists are proud no matter what the country does, which leads to simple, stupid, blind arrogance. Nationalists are obsessed with have their nation be “greater” than all other nations, even if it means lying to themselves and others, even if it means imposing their will on other nations through violence or the threat of violence. Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for others is not love, love for one’s country which is not part of one’s love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship.
Patriotism is a consistent dedication of a lifetime and a steady part of our daily lives. A patriot has a sense of: I am – we are – responsible for what we are, as a nation, right now. Pride for the good and the shame for the bad are both mine. I am – we are -- responsible for living up to the things we say we’re all about. It’s my job to help my nation be the best it can be, to get closer to the ideals spelled out by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Put into parenting terms: patriots are like the parents who recognize the good and the bad in their children and who work hard, every day, to help them grow up to be the best men and women they can be; nationalists are like the parents who can see no wrong in their kids, who coddle them, spoil them, make excuses for them and fail to nurture them. Once again, it comes down to responsibility. Good parents and patriots take responsibility, bad parents and nationalists do not.
A quick aside: I’d like my kids to understand that when we say we’re loyal to the flag, what we really mean is that we’re loyal to the goals and values laid out in the Constitution. The flag is a symbol, a short-cut way of saying a lot of profoundly important things. What’s important is the meaning we hold in our hearts and minds when we fly the flag, not the piece of cloth itself. Event the pledge of allegiance uses the shorthand: We’re not pledging our allegiance to the piece of cloth, but to the ideals represented by the cloth and our fellow citizens who share those ideals. People get confused about that, too.
We can use the “responsibility” test to separate good patriotism from bad nationalism. When our nation does something beneath our ideals, a patriot considers it a duty to speak up. When the patriot speaks up, the nationalist will say something like “Why are you tearing down your country? Why don’t you talk about this bad thing another country did?” The answer is: “I’m not responsible for that other country. I’m responsible for my country.” Nationalists don’t get that. I hope my kids will.
We celebrated the 4th, yesterday, in our traditional way: Rhonda organized the neighborhood parade – this year with both a firetruck and a squad car! -- and picnic, complete with goody bags, games, prizes and pinatas for the little ones and great food and great conversation for us older ones. The kids decorated their bikes and rode in the parade, then decorated themselves with patriotic wash-off tatoos at the picnic. After sunset, the neighbors gathered with lawn chairs to watch fireworks. The feeling of kinship among the neighbors and the feeling of celebration in all out events are things I’m happy my children are experiencing, because I think it will help make patriots of them.
As I had that thought, watching the kids play in the grass as the fireworks lit up the sky, a fear crept over me. I have a fear that growing up in this particular phase of our nation’s history will leave them confused over what it means to be patriotic. Grownups all around them, some very visible, some leading our nation, are confusing nationalism with patriotism, and it’s got to be tough for a kid to sort it out.
In my book, patriotism is a great and beautiful thing; nationalism is a bad and ugly thing.
Patriots are proud of their country for the ideals to which it aspires, the values it holds dear and the good that it does – which leads to a feeling of responsibility, both for what we do and who we are today and for what we want to do and be tomorrow
Nationalists are proud no matter what the country does, which leads to simple, stupid, blind arrogance. Nationalists are obsessed with have their nation be “greater” than all other nations, even if it means lying to themselves and others, even if it means imposing their will on other nations through violence or the threat of violence. Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for others is not love, love for one’s country which is not part of one’s love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship.
Patriotism is a consistent dedication of a lifetime and a steady part of our daily lives. A patriot has a sense of: I am – we are – responsible for what we are, as a nation, right now. Pride for the good and the shame for the bad are both mine. I am – we are -- responsible for living up to the things we say we’re all about. It’s my job to help my nation be the best it can be, to get closer to the ideals spelled out by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Put into parenting terms: patriots are like the parents who recognize the good and the bad in their children and who work hard, every day, to help them grow up to be the best men and women they can be; nationalists are like the parents who can see no wrong in their kids, who coddle them, spoil them, make excuses for them and fail to nurture them. Once again, it comes down to responsibility. Good parents and patriots take responsibility, bad parents and nationalists do not.
A quick aside: I’d like my kids to understand that when we say we’re loyal to the flag, what we really mean is that we’re loyal to the goals and values laid out in the Constitution. The flag is a symbol, a short-cut way of saying a lot of profoundly important things. What’s important is the meaning we hold in our hearts and minds when we fly the flag, not the piece of cloth itself. Event the pledge of allegiance uses the shorthand: We’re not pledging our allegiance to the piece of cloth, but to the ideals represented by the cloth and our fellow citizens who share those ideals. People get confused about that, too.
We can use the “responsibility” test to separate good patriotism from bad nationalism. When our nation does something beneath our ideals, a patriot considers it a duty to speak up. When the patriot speaks up, the nationalist will say something like “Why are you tearing down your country? Why don’t you talk about this bad thing another country did?” The answer is: “I’m not responsible for that other country. I’m responsible for my country.” Nationalists don’t get that. I hope my kids will.
