rusmeister
A Russified American Orthodox Chestertonian
- Dec 9, 2005
- 10,407
- 5,026
- Country
- Montenegro
- Faith
- Eastern Orthodox
- Marital Status
- Married
Hi, Dot, (if I may so address you)Sorry. Over the past decade, I’ve learned too many terrible and dark things about our government’s history to cheerlead my country. I know that sounds awful. But I grew up in a conservative military household, living on bases where the National Anthem played through loud speakers both morning and evening (start and end of work day for the military members), went to the base theaters with the National Anthem played in a patriotic video before each movie, and then married a military member and have lived the life of a dependent military member longer than a civilian, and well, I have nothing against the military obviously. As I said, it’s been a part of most of my life, but things I discovered about my government’s actions, especially the intelligence agencies, woke me up from my hardcore conservative stances on everything - pro intervention wars, capital punishment, trickle down economics, etc. - listened to a bunch of conservative talk radio hosts for years. But all of that started changing in 2009. I believe after letting go of the idol I’d made of my country, its flag, and I became close to my church then, God was able to reach me, and my thoughts changed on these things and then in 2013, some other disturbing things about my government and intel agencies left me feeling angry, upset, and shocked. Since then, I’ve been pretty critical of my country’s political systems and the two things I’ve already mentioned, so I rather follow Mother Gavrilia who said we’re all travelers on this earth. Yes, this is the country in which I was born, and I am glad I was born here and appreciate things about it, but I don’t have any affection or nationalistic attachment to it. I suppose I’m a bit patriotic because questioning our government is considered patriotic. That’s about it.
What you are saying seems to boil down to my second paragraph, that the government is highly corrupt, and you discovered this a little over a decade ago. We agree. No argument. But that’s actually not the same thing as what I said in my first paragraph. I live in Russia. I know what it’s like to NOT have our Bill of Rights as something I can stand on. I do not take loud public stands over here. Both because I am not a citizen, and because I don’t have all the rights we take for granted, nor do the citizens.
You can be sad and not love what your country is doing in your name, and still love your country. Love doesn’t mean “approve”. CS Lewis said, “Love desires the betterment of the beloved.” A patriot loves his country in that sense, even when he is ashamed of what it has done. You were raised, if I understand rightly, in a jingoistic form of patriotism, and it is right to reject that kind, which says “My country can do no wrong”, because we know that it can. Nationalism must logically mean believing in the worth of the nation. It can be good or bad. Jingoism is a bad form. But just because some people want us to react like Pavlov's dogs, here, with an automatic snarl, like with “discrimination”, as they would have us wag our tails when we hear “diversity”, “inclusive”, etc.
But discrimination can be good and necessary. And nationalism can be good as a thing that opposes imperialism, which is what America’s foreign policy has been. That is why they have heaped so much scorn on the word “nationalism”, and treat it like a dirty word, because they recognize it as an enemy to their ambitions to rule the world.
So you’re basically right. I think you’ve just been thinking about it inaccurately. You do love your country, in the sad sense. And you certainly love the land and the people, starting with your with your family, friends and neighbors. So you are right to oppose the new imperialism, aka “globalism”, and are, in that sense, a lover of your own nation and taking care of what goes on inside our own borders, (if we can to any extent).
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