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THOUGHTS ON PATRIOTISM AND SPIRITUAL VALUES [1]

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Date: 2022-07-23

FARESPITHE: THOUGHTS ON PATRIOTISM AND SPIRITUAL VALUES

[FARESPITHE stands for faith, religion, spirituality, theology: “fare” like fair; “spithe” like with.]

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America...”. I said those words with the rest of that pledge every morning at school from the first through the eighth grade. Saying the words daily meant for me, at least partially, that I took it for granted, and the hoped for loyalty it was intended to instill in me, while somewhat there in my early years, eventually was replaced with what I believe is a more meaningfully significant, more deeply universal loyalty. Yet my early like of history, mostly because I identified with heroes, helped me learn and appreciate so many of the other symbols of this country—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Liberty Bell. Being a native of West Virginia, the only state resulting from the only boundary change of our Civil War, led me to deeply admire and respect Abraham Lincoln, and the monument/symbol to him and a united, slave free country in Washington, DC.

The symbols of a nation/state are meant to remind us of that which protects us and gives us our rights and freedoms, thus deserving our loyal sacrifice—if it be that kind of nation. If it be the kind of nation that cares not for rights and freedoms, the symbols are most likely meant to create loyalty through fear. Nations with symbols have existed for thousands of years, yet nations change, as do symbols, and some nations cease to exist, with their symbols destroyed, meant never to be used again as emblems of power and prominence, whether they were good, or not so good, nations.

Most love our country’s symbols—many say we should be willing to die for what they stand for. I once wrote that I thought I might be willing to die for freedom—for who wants to live not free?—not me—yet millions do every day and do so in wonderfully useful and beneficial ways, ways I cannot claim God cannot use just because they do not live in what my country defines as freedom. Can worthy life only exist in a state of freedom as we define it here in the USA? I do not think, nor believe, such an arrogant position can possibly be claimed or defended. The wonderfully compelling hymn, “This Is My Song” states it poignantly:

This is my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine. This is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine; but other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine. My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine; but other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine. O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.

Freedom just may be the USA’s most important, significant, and cherished value. Yet many do not cherish it enough to let protesters burn the flag when no one responds to their ignored rights and concerns till they take such dramatic measures. Some do not cherish freedom enough to let private citizens keep their private property when mega-moneyed developers can take it and make more profits for the city—and some of those property-losing citizens could be those soldiers so many so easily speak of deserving honor and respect for their service to our country by “fighting for our freedom”—taking their property would be really some honor and respect. Many do not cherish freedom enough to allow same-sex oriented persons to freely choose marriage as do opposite-sex oriented people. Some do not cherish freedom enough to support a Supreme Court nominee who will judge on the basis of the greater, common good for the greater number of people, and not on the basis of specific, limited, narrow beliefs. Some do not cherish freedom enough not to have a government hidden in secrecy, so they prosecute and imprison journalists who seek to tell the people the truth, so that we might possibly have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, which is what freedom is supposed to accomplish for all of us in this country. Some do not cherish freedom enough to live with tolerance of others’ religious beliefs when they are different than theirs, not even realizing that the freedom they have to believe what they believe can only be freedom if others are free to believe differently. Some do not cherish freedom enough to allow a person the freedom to choose to die with dignity on their own terms when facing a sure death of pain and suffering due to incurable disease. The arrogance of claiming freedoms for one’s self while denying freedoms to others is pathetically contradictory.

It is also arrogant for anyone to say what our nation does to fight terrorism is worth the sacrifice, when the person saying it sacrifices nothing. To be willing to sacrifice others but not yourself is sociopathic, is it not? Let his daughters go and his statement might have some merit. Yet I wish that on no one, not even one who pontificates hypocritically about sacrifice. But surely there is some merit in patriotism—is there not?—some truth somewhere in the symbols—the values for which they stand—the people who hold them so dear, and those who do not yet are deeply thankful for the rights and freedoms they experience. I am becoming increasingly skeptical about patriotism, for it seems more and more like the kind of my-tribe-and-my-tribe-only tribalism that is hopeless, helpless, and future-less because it is deadly. I am sure that the real values behind the symbols, behind the appeals to patriotic loyalty, behind all the rights and freedoms resides in the people—for people are the result of God’s love and grace through the wonders and mysteries of creation (which for me includes evolutionary processes). I believe if we focus on the value of people and each person, we may begin to realize the limits of patriotism and nation/state usefulness. For me, if any symbol, any claimed value leads to decisions that deny the value of life—God given life because of love and grace—then the symbol, the value is essentially suspect as to any merit worth any sacrifice.

If this nation had lived the values of Jesus so many claim we have as a “Christian nation”, we would have realized long ago that love and grace are the values we would have lived, and still be living. And had we truly lived those values no one would think it necessary to speak so easily of willing sacrifice worthy of only others to make. For Jesus never raised an army, never advocated that anyone else raise an army—Jesus never killed anyone, nor advocated that anyone kill or be killed on his behalf—yet Jesus was willing to be killed, to choose to be sacrificed so that others would not be killed and sacrificed. NOW THAT’S THE TRUE MEANING OF SACRIFICE—THAT’S OUR MODEL—WE WHO CLAIM TO BE CHRISTIAN—IF WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT SACRIFICE! Yet I also believe it is a model for anyone if we are serious about the true value worth sacrifice—people—each person a love and grace creation of God, and if a love and grace creation of God, not to be killed or sacrificed by me or anyone else—EVER! And if you say, “Well that’s just not the way the world works”, you will have to admit that the way the world works has been pretty damn lousy for way too long, and maybe, just maybe it needs to work much differently from now on, and maybe, just maybe it needs to work the way of peace and not killing others for “freedom and our way of life”, and maybe, just maybe this is the only way the world can possibly work to have any hope of any future worth considering. For Jesus taught this sacrifice as a Jew, and first-century Jews actually put it into practice, offering up their necks, en masse, in protest of a Roman governor who would not remove symbols the Jews found sacrilegiously offensive—the governor relented at their non-violent act of willing sacrifice. Many others of different faiths have done similar things.

There is nothing biblically that points to God requiring, or even desiring, patriotism. God does not honor any one nation—God does not care about borders—God does not wave any nation’s flag—God does not want us to worship any one nation’s symbols, values, rights, freedoms, or form of government—God requires, expects us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God—not walk arrogantly claiming “my beliefs of God are the only ones with truth”—walk humbly, realizing God still has new truth, new insight to reveal, to share with me—with you—with everyone—for God is not finished with us yet. Jesus taught us that God wants us to find solutions that lead to sharing, experiencing love and grace lived in peaceful harmony, so that every person God created might enjoy life and live life abundantly, for we are not finished with God yet. Most every religion that has world-wide appeal does so because it realizes and teaches that God’s love and grace is greater, broader, deeper, and beyond any nation/state, any national symbols, any patriotism, any form of government, any race or ethnicity. Or, to say it another way, no one teaches that your national identity will have any meaning in any way, shape, or form in heaven. Is it not way past time to live that essence “on earth as it is in heaven”?

“I pledge allegiance to God and the people of God’s creation, promising to live with them through God’s love and grace.” That’s the pledge I want to say seven days a week for the rest of my life, and I hope and pray others will as well.

Love, grace, hope, joy, compassion, peace,

Rodney Noel Saunders — Pastor, United Methodist, Ret.

July 10, 2005/July 4, 2021

[editor’s note — I am posting a few of FareSpithe’s essays for him that I have received in the past year to bring them to a broader audience, and to help him learn to use Daily Kos. They are posted as written without significant editorial changes, and only minor formatting to fit DKos. — TsoDog]

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