Patriotism

A few years ago, an ingenious ad appeared on television promoting what’s become an

American institution - Monday Night Football.  The commercial started out with a couple standing on stage in what looked like a high school auditorium.  They were quietly playing a xylophone and wearing lederhosen or some other traditional outfit Americans don’t understand.  The sound was somehow a bit too low, and the scene lasted a bit too long.  The announcer blandly said “Monday night in Norway.”

Then, out of nowhere, the scene cut with a swell of the Monday Night Football anthem – the crowds wildly cheering as a receiver leaped into the air to pull in a deep pass for a touchdown.  The announcer spoke again – “Monday Night in America!”  Enough said.

What was intended only as a slightly humorous look at American television versus European television actually amounted to a very telling insight into America and what makes ours a great nation.  It was a glimpse into the vibrance of our culture and the exuberance of our people.  It was, in the end, a very patriotic tribute to a land that in the span of just over 200 years has become the dominant force politically, economically and culturally throughout the entire world.

What is true patriotism, or more accurately, true “American” patriotism? 

In this day and age, “patriotism” is a loaded word with deep connotations in both the positive and negative sense.  “Patriotism” in the sense of “nationalism” is universally seen as a negative trait.  Pride in America because it is “ours” or because we are “better” than other people has unfortunate consequences and serves merely to offend the rest of the world.

But pride in our nation that stems from a deeply held belief in the principles that shaped America – pride in the fact that although we are far from a perfect nation, we are a “good” force in the world – pride in the realization that anyone on earth can become an American and share our ideals – such pride is a virtue that has through our entire existence – in good times and bad - led America to become a force for freedom around the world.

The 18th century philosopher Edmund Burke implored that we should love our country because it is “lovely” – that it worth loving.  That love of country, what we may call true patriotism, is a far more thoughtful approach to patriotism that takes into account the subtler qualities we embrace as Americans.  It is more than watching fireworks on the 4th of July or singing the Star Spangled Banner at a football game. It is, rather, the very trait that helps us understand as Benjamin Franklin said, “We all must ‘hang together,’ or surely we will all ‘hang’ separately.”

Americans today seem all too ready to hang our heads.  One might say that many of us are losing the “courage of our convictions” and doubting whether America really is a “good” nation at all. 

We are, to be sure, beset with big problems and wide divisions. Partisan fighting seems at an all-time high.  We’re engaged in a controversial war with complex ramifications for the entire world.  Many concerned with the environment question whether we’re destroying the earth, and others are concerned with the impact American corporations are having on cultures throughout the world. There are, without question, many more issues facing our people that have caused us to look down. 

The question of today, though, must be “What is left that is still worth fighting for, and if need be, dying for?”  Never has it been more important that we look at the subtler qualities that still pervade our entire view as - our excitement for life and invention, our belief in individual freedoms, our attitudes about work, family and sacrifice.  

Never has it been more important that we understand the true meaning of American patriotism.  Such patriotism was perhaps best described by an American statesman who said, “Patriotism is not the short, frenzied outburst of emotion, rather it is the steady and tranquil dedication of a lifetime.” 

Something interesting and very profound happened not on September 11, 2001,  but on September 12, 2001.  Sales of American flags skyrocketed by more than 5000% across nationwide.  It showed us that no matter how discouraged we may have been as a nation, when our way of life came under attack, we went back to being “One Nation, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”  For one moment in time, we were all Americans again.

Most of those flags have been put away now – streets that were more decorated than the fourth of July now look much like they did on September 10th, but that day showed us all that the spirit of patriotism is still alive in America.