Patriotism in the Age of Obama
Barry Bloom, Minister of Spiritual Life
July 5, 2009

This weekend, all across the country, fireworks are filling the sky with their unique explosive artistry to celebrate the signing of our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. In addition to fireworks, there are parades, picnics, flag raisings, family gatherings, community celebrations of all kinds, and a general, countrywide expression of gratitude for the actions of the early leaders and creators of what became the United States of America, that created the world’s greatest democracy. There are tears flowing down many upraised faces at these celebrations. Tears of joy that flow from the appreciation and happiness of living in a free society, tears of sadness and appreciation that recognize the depth and breadth of the struggles we have endured to keep America free. Tears which reflect the feelings of connection and community that transcend our many differences at this time of year, that bring us together.

Those feelings of pride and happiness come from the experience of what we call patriotism. Patriotism is described in Wickipedia as “love of and/or devotion to one's country.” The word comes from the Greek patris. However, patriotism has had different meanings over time. In ancient Greece, Plato said, "patriotism does not require one to agree with everything that his country does and patriotism would actually promote analytical questioning in a quest to make the country the best it possibly can be." During the 18th century Age of Enlightenment, the notion of patriotism continued to be separate from the notion of nationalism, defined in the Webster dictionary as “loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations”. Instead, patriotism in the 18th century in Europe was defined as devotion to humanity and beneficence. For example, providing charity, criticizing slavery, and excessive penal laws were all considered patriotic. In both ancient and modern visions of patriotism, individual responsibility to fellow citizens is an inherent component of patriotism.

Our current notions of patriotism are influenced by 19th century ideas about nationalism. During the 19th century, "being patriotic" became increasingly connected with nationalism, and even jingoism Jingoism is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy". In practice, it refers to the advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what they perceive as their country's national interests, and to excessive bias in judging one's own country as superior to others – an extreme type of nationalism.

Whatever ways we see patriotism today, it is clear that our traditional, more conservative fellow citizens in this country express feelings of patriotism more openly and with more open hearted enthusiasm than we liberals and progressives tend to, at least up until now. We who identify as liberals tend to be cooler about our celebrating. We are held back by the concerns we harbor about all the imperfections of the American experience. We have frequently been critics of aspects of life in America. We have been more discriminating about drawing the line between the patriotism that seeks the common good and the nationalism and jingoism that says, my country right or wrong! And when a conservative administration is in charge of the country criticisms intensify aimed at perceived nationalism and jingoism. Patiotism, devotion and love of country, is not high on our list at those times, as in the last eight years.

This most recent experience with a conservative administration has been instructive. Many felt battered by a sense of entitlement that spread from Washington around the world. The abadonement of core principles of democracy seemed obvious and terrible to many. Torture of our enemies, constant assertion of the supposed moral superiority of America, insulting attitudes toward other countries and cultures, a war of political expediency, and a general experience of the worst of jingoism filled the news for years. As liberals we were highly critical. We wrote our Congress women and men. We objected from a position that we believed was moral rightness, moral certitude. Of course, so did those with whom we disagreed. Moral certitude vs. moral certitude. Who was absolutely right??? Well, whoever was “right” now there is a new reality in which we live in America. Barack Obama became the president of this audacious country and a new, far more liberal philosophy has become the ruling paradigm. We are now actually free to celebrate and move forward toward a future that calls us to be the best of who America can be. To re-claim the true moral leadership role we abandoned when the first shots were fired in Iraq, when the first waterboarding took place, when the first lies were told. Particularly for Unitarian Universalists, having worked for two centuries supporting the rights and dignity of African Americans, Obama’s election seems a great victory indeed. It opens the door for a new patriotism, a renewed love and devotion to country, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not THAT simple is it?

There is something about us, about liberals in general and Unitarian Universalists in particular that causes us to stand “above the fray.” We tend to stand apart, work to be “objective,” and provide “helpful” insight and direction. In short, despite our good intentions, we tend to feel, dare I say it, a bit, superior. If only they would listen to US the world would be so much better. OUR version of reason and principle should be at the core of all decisionmaking. You won’t catch us with tears running down our cheeks at a patriotic rally either! Someone might see us and report us to “politicallly incorrect liberals.com.” Ah, such a loss for us. A loss because we miss out on the heart and soul parts of being fully alive when we stand off in our supposed objectivity. We miss the joy of risking making fools of ourselves in order to celebrate life, including our unique, wonderful country. And, by projection, we miss out on much more of the heart and soul of our whole lives through that same fear of taking the risk to enter into a more loving or more spiritual life. More about that in a minute.

First a story from my own life. Growing up in the heartland, central Missouri, the 4th of July was a time for especially devout celebrations of America. I had mixed feelings about it all. When I was 7 years old, I was the star of one of the floats in the Annual Independence Day Parade in Bowling Green, Mo. I was dressed up as Uncle Sam complete with long white hair and beard. The parade wound around the town square, then finished at the County Fairgrounds where the saddle horse shows were being held. During the length of the parade, I became sick, then very sick. They paged my parents at the fairgrounds to come immediately and get me. I ended up in the hospital in nearby Lousiana, Mo for two weeks with viral pneumonia. It was a frightening experience. Somehow, that sickness and 4th of July parades got connected in my young mind and I wanted nothing to do with them for many years. That has changed, but the ambivalence about how to act at patriotic celebrations has not.

When I sit and watch fireworks, or attend a community celebration, or even when I stand at any time during the year and listen to the Star Spangled Banner, I am in an ambivalent state. On the one hand, the feelings of the event fill me up. I tear up at almost anything. Patriotic music anytime. Even roaring fly overs by military planes at a sports event will cause the leakage to start. As will parades, particularly those with smart marching bands. And even the pledge of allegiance in certain settings will do the same. I am fine fodder for sentiment. On the other hand, while the event is unfolding, another inner voice always nags at me. Even as the feelings I just described are taking hold of me. It is a critical voice inside me that lists all the miltaristic, jingoistic acts of America over our history. I am cursed here, by having a Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies with a teaching certificate in American History. I am fully aware of our countries’s imperfections. While singing the Star Spangled Banner, for example, I am aware of the military moment that inspired Francis Scott Key. Fort McHenry in Baltimore was being attacked overnight by the British during the stupid War of 1812. When the dawn came the oversized American flag still waved on the flagpole of the fort, meaning the fort was still in American hands. The British attack was, in fact, successfully repulsed, though we came very close to losing the war and our new independence. Key was a lawyer who had come to negotiate the release of a civilian prisoner of war held by the British. He was on a “truce ship” in the harbor and the very morning this scene took place, he began to write the poem that would eventually be adopted as the Star Spangled Banner.

How lovely, right? It IS inspiring. But I cannot help asking the question over and over in that other part of my mind…why are our patriotic inspirations based on war, military operations, and death? We have fought, in order, the War of Revolution, the just named War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spainish-American War,World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the war in Vietnam, two wars in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan, and many other police actions and small military campaigns. That many in only 233 years of history as a country. Wow. Now even as I say this with deep concern about what this means about our core values as a country, I want to aknowledge the bravery and incredible sacrifice that so many have made in the military over those years to keep our country safe and whole. Whether or not there were other peaceful avenues that could have been followed instead is not the soldier’s concern. Going to where the danger is, and fighting to win in order to protect is the soldier’s injunction. We all know families who have lost sons or daughters, fathers or mothers to war. Those families would tell us, almost without exception, that their loved one died in order to keep us safe, to keep democracy and freedom alive. Who are we to disagree?? So even though I personally would like to celebrate the beauty of our country in our national anthem, as in the words of America the Beautiful, rather than celebrate our capacity to win wars, those who have sacrificed must be remembered!

Let me return now to my earlier statement about the risk of being patriotic and how that links to the risk of being spiritual. Or the risk of loving another. All share something in common. They are expressions of a belief in, and faith in, something larger than ourselves. In the case of patriotism, it is our values, our ideals, and the shared experience over many years that brings us to faith, belief in America as being a free, a good place. And love and devotion to her. A wonderful shared large community experience of which we are a small but important part. The same is true of living with spiritual values at the core of our lives. Practicing compassion, acting with loving kindness toward all, seeing the mystic, awesome possibilities in the mysteries of life that we do not understand, walking our talk by bringing healing to a wounded world, becoming part of loving spiritual communities…all of these flow from belief and practice of something beyond ourselves whether that be the values themselves or the presence of the holy. Each of us holds this differently. What is most common is the risk. It is not easy to practice compassion and care when those around you are making righteous judgements. It is also not easy to take the risk to truly love another human being.

One of many reasons why I respect Barack Obama is his willingness to take risks. Nobody’s perfect, but for the most part he has acted authentically from the beginning. He has been truthful and straightforward. He has worked to be a peace maker at home and abroad. He acts with respect toward all despite his disagreements with them. He has worked to build bridges whether or not others build back. So far, he has not reverted to the easier political way of putting down his opponents, dinegrating them. He is a fine human being who walks his talk. We believe in him. Which creates a dilemma for us.

If we have a fine President, one in whom we deeply believe, and he is asking us to love and support our country, to be a patriot, despite all he and every other African-American on this continent has been through, we have no defense about our own standoffish behavior. In the past it was automatic to say, NO, we refuse to take the risk of acting patriotically because of the direction of the country and its leaders, with whom we are upset. At times we have been regressive and reactive saying, in effect, this country sucks!! NOW, under Obama’s leadership, which echoes our own values, if WE are to be authentic, we must reasess our past position and consider moving into our own form of patriotism. To practice love and devotion to our country now led by President Obama without supporting nationalism and jingoism that still festers in many parts of our society. Our challenge to discover then is, how do Unitarian Universalist and other progressive patriots look and act? Here are a few quotes that give a flavor of patriotism without the encumberance of nationalism and jingoism that are a possible starting place.

READINGS So, there is some evidence. It is possible to be a progressive and a patriot! It is possible to strongly, deeply love our country and work vigorously in the good to keep her free and well. Without embarassment or a nagging sense of betrayal of principle. It takes risk to do so, as it takes risk to love, as it takes risk to live out spiritual principles in daily life. But it is fully possible if we choose to take that risk. There is a dangling, unfinished piece I need to address before we finish this conversation. One that pulls at me from my background in creation spirituality. Let me read you a quote from Sidney Harris. “Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country's virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, "the greatest," but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is.”

When astronaut Russell Schweigert stepped out of the spacecraft to begin the first ever unattached space walk he was in awe. Later he said:

“Up there you go around every hour and a half, time after time after time. You look down; you can't imagine how many borders and boundaries you cross, and you don't even see them. The earth is a whole – so beautiful, so small, and so fragile. You realize that on that small spot is everything that means anything to you: all history, all poetry, all music, all art, death, birth, love, tears, all games, all joy – all on that small spot. And there’s not a sound – only a silence the depth of which you’ve never known.”

“To see the Earth as it truly is small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats is to see ourselves as riders on the Earth together brothers and sisters on that bright loveliness brothers and sisters who know now they are truly brothers and sisters.” Archibald MacLeish

This beautiful blue world can no longer tolerate our deficencies and survive. The language and actions of our dark side bring us closer to planetary death each day. War, pollution, enviromental degregation,….you know the list as well as I. We, you and I, need to strive for a new world covenant that proclaims the beauty of the Earth and the need for all the peoples of the Earth to live as one. Brothers and sisters tearing down the borders and boundaries together. Coming into the age of WORLD PATRIOTISM, love and devotion to the Earth. I know it will not happen in our lifetime, but it MUST happen. Eventually, love and the spirit of oneness may will bring our cherished Universalist ideals to fruition.

In the meantime let us follow the lead of our President. Let us honor and celebrate this incredible, very flawed, very beautiful country. As well as every other beautiful, flawed, lovely country of the world! Let us do celebrate our special American contributions to the world. Especially this: 233 years ago these words which flowed from the pen of Thomas Jefferson, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Those powerful words became real, lived out in a great experiment in democracy which still thrives. We have not followed the script perfectly, but we continue on the journey with renewed enthusiasm and hope. This weekend, may we celebrate this audacious, free, democratic country and be grateful for the precious gift we have been given. Amen

READINGS The world waits to see the quality and energy of our patriotism. The book of our country's history... is handed to us, that we may inscribe there the records of its glory, or its shame. — THE REV. THOMAS STARR KING (1824-1864

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually ~James Baldwin

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. (1918) Theodore Roosevelt

What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility ... a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. Adlai Stevenson

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it. Edward R Murrow

We affirm the greatness of our nation - not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago. Barack Obama

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

We flirt with forgetting two central aspects of our history. The United States is built on a foundation of belief, not on a foundation of skepticism. And it is by our actions, not our words, that this foundation of belief will be justified or betrayed. "An almost chosen people" (in Lincoln's words), we demonstrate our greatness not by force of might or by virtue of our economic dominance, but through rigorous moral endeavor, ever striving to remake ourselves in the image of our ideals. When we have approached true greatness, we have been great not because we were strong but because we were good. Fidelity to our national creed remains challenging, but it invests our nation with spiritual purpose and — if we honor its precepts — a moral destiny. Forrest Church

Patriotism is not only a legitimate sentiment, but a duty... We cannot more efficiently labor for the good of all... than by pledging heart, brain, and hands to the services of keeping our country true to its mission, obedient to its ideals...The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border? Pablo Casals Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. John Kennedy