Posted on 11/20/2001 5:39:13 AM PST by SAMWolf
Just this past week, my 88 year old father went to his eternal resting place.
I will miss hearing his voice and seeing his smile, because I loved him very much.
I did not love him because he was powerful. He wasn't. I did not love him because he was wealthy. He wasn't. I didn't love him because he was generous and gentle although he was both. I loved him because he loved and nurtured me and because he was my father.
On Sept. 11, our American family was viciously attacked and our sense of loss, love and patriotism is being expressed in a degree that has not been expressed since the days of World War II. Unfortunately, patriotism's evil twin, nationalism, is also being expressed with even greater force and effect. It is imperative, in this time of national danger, that the differences be clear and understood.
G.K. Chesterson once observed that Rudyard Kipling, the chief literary proponent of British imperialism, suffered from a "lack of patriotism." "He admires England because she is strong; he does not love her because she is English." In this same way many Americans admire, even revere, America because it is rich and powerful, not for the values and principles that make it great. For them, America must be "the greatest nation on earth" to justify the devotion they feel.
This is nationalism, not patriotism. Patriotism is like love of family. One does not love one's family because it is "the greatest family on earth." You don't feel that your family is better because of its domination over other families.
While patriotism is a form of affection, nationalism is a form of affectation; grounded in rivalry and defined by the nation's status in the world. Nationalism is arrogant and aggressive, by nature, whereas patriotism is tolerant and peaceful unless forced to fight.
A patriot, as any family member will, may criticize or even laugh at the pretentiousness of his country. A nationalist cannot acknowledge that his country's policies are determined by fallible human beings and sometimes those policies and their consequences are horribly wrong.
A patriot knows that the rest of the world cannot become a mirror image of America and the ideals of this nation cannot be cloned abroad anymore than our mountains and prairies.
He desires to remain free and at peace with his neighbors and wants his government to be strong enough to defend itself, not strong enough to become the world's policeman.
The nationalist believes that the American ideals of freedom and democracy must enjoy universal approval and when they don't, it is due to the acts of evil men. They believe it is the mission of this country to spread these ideals and impose them by force if necessary.
I am grateful my father was not a rich and powerful man, otherwise he may not have had the opportunity to be a father and teach me greatness by example. I wish my country was more like my father.
In this period of war hysteria, the angry and outraged patriot, seeing his country under attack, may succumb to the seductions of nationalism. This is the true danger to our nation and one we must vigilantly guard against.
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