Patriotism in the Wake of September 11th
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The times they are a changing, eh?
This is a disclaimer. Read it... or you will be shot.
It seems like everyone has written an open letter to America. Either proclaiming fierce loyalty to the mighty US of A, condemning the actions of our "coke-sniffing president", or adding a religious spin to the horrors we've all been seeing night after night on the news networks. Everyone has a comment and a opinion to shout, be it informed reflection or, more commonly, banal in its grossly perverted and misinformed conclusions.
Not to say that commenting and opinion making is a bad thing, far from it. I simply state that there are many more people dropping their jaws and belching forth these horribly misinformed statements and conclusions, than people who take the time to research their conclusions. Like the terrorists who attached New York, these purveyors of miscommunication are only as powerful as we let them be. Their ultimate goal is to change our way of life and our mentality, so please make conclusions for yourself, it's our only defense. If you have questions, research the answers yourself. Base your conclusions on credible sources. If we don not take the time to figure things out for ourselves, we can be certain someone else will do it for us.
Having said that, I would like to make a few brief comments about patriotism and how it impacts American life, terrorists be damned. As previously mentioned, do not take this, or anything else as fact unless you have some legitimate reason for doing so. Be certain to note that these are opinions. To be more specific, my opinions. My goal is not to sway you to my side, rather to present my personal perspective on this situation, and unlike many of the recent "Open letters to America," I give you permission to decide how they will effect you.
patriotism \Pa"tri*ot*ism\, n. [Cf. F. patriotisme.] Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country.
pa·tri·ot (ptr-t, -t) n. One who loves, supports, and defends one's country
I thought I would define patriotism right up front, in case anyone needed to know what is actually on the books. The events on September 11th have effected everyone in the US in some way. Obviously, some more than others, but it still stands that everyone has been impacted by it to some degree.
The United States is based on certain fundamentals, which have been beautifully articulated in the constitution. Among these fundamental concepts are separation of church and state, freedom of speech, and freedom from discrimination. These fundamentals are necessary to insure the welfare of our country. The framers of the constitution figured that the old rules of discrimination, aristocratic rule, and repression of new ideas was a bad thing. Their masterpiece, the constitution, reflects this.
The framers of the constitution have very carefully and specifically outlined the distribution of power through a series of checks and balances. The underlying reason for this is that power needs to be distributed among the leaders, to insure that power does not gather in one place, or in one person. This has been done to prevent one person from gaining enough power to change the fundamentals of our government without the consent of many people. We have the ability to disagree with policy, and, more importantly, the power act upon those disagreements. This is one of the founding concepts of the country we all inhabit.
Love accompanied with support and defense of the country stands as our current definition of patriotism. This is not implying that people should blindly follow their leaders. In fact, many of history's great patriots went willfully against their leader's policy because it was not fitting with the greater beliefs of the country.
To blindly follow leaders without reflection or research is going against the country, thus failing to be patriotic. To attack a person because of their race is not only unpatriotic, but it is hypocritical. Such actions stand contrary to the foundation of the country, showing a lack of devotion, love, and support, making such actions, by definition unpatriotic.
Patriotism is shown by someone who "has devotion to the welfare of one's country" (see definition above). A person who does nothing for the country on September 10th, then continues to do nothing after September 11th other than is not a patriot. This person is, by definition, a hypocrite.
One who wags a flag, then proceeds to insult or a attack a fellow American based solely on the fact that their religious preference is Muslim, is not a patriot. In fact, there is no instance in the definition or the constitution that explicitly reads, "People who blatantly act against known laws and their own constitution can be considered patriotic."
Actions such as giving blood and donating time are very patriotic responses. Studying the issue, and basing your actions on informed conclusions, rather than acting on uninformed rumors or vengeance, is the most patriotic thing many of us can do at this point.
Owning a flag does not equal being a patriot. A flag is a colorful piece of cloth, nothing more went into its construction than did a shirt. While the materiel flag is essentially worthless, the flag as a symbol is priceless. What the symbol represents is larger than any one individual, is priceless beyond comparison, cannot be bought or sold, and is much greater than a cloth.
Countless Americans have died in wars defending this country, which is represented by the flag, but is NOT the flag itself. This is an important distinction that I think many Americans have looked past. Owning and flying a flag is not equal (not a sufficient and necessary condition) to being patriotic, though it can be a component of patriotism.
Flying a flag is a fantastic component of patriotism, please do not misunderstand me. It shows that one loves their country, are proud of their country, and stands as a symbol of unity. People who did not fly the flag prior to September 11th had reasons for not doing so. Being attacked by terrorist should not be the sole reason people are flying flags. Flags should be flown as a component of their patriotism, which should extend into areas other than the flag store.
I do not think I'll ever fully understand the events of September 11th, 2001. I am a part-time student, I work full-time, and I have a modestly active social life. I consider myself a decently well informed individual. I am one who attempts to speaks and act on solid information (as solid as it gets anyway), rather than hearsay. New York City is easily 700 miles away. I didn't hear the thunder as the building collapsed, I could not see the smoke, and I can not smell human ruin buried in that mountain of horror.
At this time of confusion and distrust, the best thing I can think to do is understand the situation as fully as possible, in order to base my actions upon informed conclusions. Jumping on ANY band wagon, be it an ultra-violent reaction or ultra-pacifist reaction, is the worst and most unpatriotic thing I could do. With the threat of further terrorist attacks, it is vital that every person make personal commitment to an informed patriot. A single person adding to this swell of misinformed, unpatriotic sentiment could very well push us over the edge. Should we go where others have gone; taking hearsay as fact, and grossly perverting the fundamentals of the country we love and defend, we are lost. If this happens, no amount of flag waving, however good the intentions are, is going to save us or the country we love.
This is a disclaimer. Read it... or you will be shot.
It seems like everyone has written an open letter to America. Either proclaiming fierce loyalty to the mighty US of A, condemning the actions of our "coke-sniffing president", or adding a religious spin to the horrors we've all been seeing night after night on the news networks. Everyone has a comment and a opinion to shout, be it informed reflection or, more commonly, banal in its grossly perverted and misinformed conclusions.
Not to say that commenting and opinion making is a bad thing, far from it. I simply state that there are many more people dropping their jaws and belching forth these horribly misinformed statements and conclusions, than people who take the time to research their conclusions. Like the terrorists who attached New York, these purveyors of miscommunication are only as powerful as we let them be. Their ultimate goal is to change our way of life and our mentality, so please make conclusions for yourself, it's our only defense. If you have questions, research the answers yourself. Base your conclusions on credible sources. If we don not take the time to figure things out for ourselves, we can be certain someone else will do it for us.
Having said that, I would like to make a few brief comments about patriotism and how it impacts American life, terrorists be damned. As previously mentioned, do not take this, or anything else as fact unless you have some legitimate reason for doing so. Be certain to note that these are opinions. To be more specific, my opinions. My goal is not to sway you to my side, rather to present my personal perspective on this situation, and unlike many of the recent "Open letters to America," I give you permission to decide how they will effect you.
patriotism \Pa"tri*ot*ism\, n. [Cf. F. patriotisme.] Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country.
pa·tri·ot (ptr-t, -t) n. One who loves, supports, and defends one's country
I thought I would define patriotism right up front, in case anyone needed to know what is actually on the books. The events on September 11th have effected everyone in the US in some way. Obviously, some more than others, but it still stands that everyone has been impacted by it to some degree.
The United States is based on certain fundamentals, which have been beautifully articulated in the constitution. Among these fundamental concepts are separation of church and state, freedom of speech, and freedom from discrimination. These fundamentals are necessary to insure the welfare of our country. The framers of the constitution figured that the old rules of discrimination, aristocratic rule, and repression of new ideas was a bad thing. Their masterpiece, the constitution, reflects this.
The framers of the constitution have very carefully and specifically outlined the distribution of power through a series of checks and balances. The underlying reason for this is that power needs to be distributed among the leaders, to insure that power does not gather in one place, or in one person. This has been done to prevent one person from gaining enough power to change the fundamentals of our government without the consent of many people. We have the ability to disagree with policy, and, more importantly, the power act upon those disagreements. This is one of the founding concepts of the country we all inhabit.
Love accompanied with support and defense of the country stands as our current definition of patriotism. This is not implying that people should blindly follow their leaders. In fact, many of history's great patriots went willfully against their leader's policy because it was not fitting with the greater beliefs of the country.
To blindly follow leaders without reflection or research is going against the country, thus failing to be patriotic. To attack a person because of their race is not only unpatriotic, but it is hypocritical. Such actions stand contrary to the foundation of the country, showing a lack of devotion, love, and support, making such actions, by definition unpatriotic.
Patriotism is shown by someone who "has devotion to the welfare of one's country" (see definition above). A person who does nothing for the country on September 10th, then continues to do nothing after September 11th other than is not a patriot. This person is, by definition, a hypocrite.
One who wags a flag, then proceeds to insult or a attack a fellow American based solely on the fact that their religious preference is Muslim, is not a patriot. In fact, there is no instance in the definition or the constitution that explicitly reads, "People who blatantly act against known laws and their own constitution can be considered patriotic."
Actions such as giving blood and donating time are very patriotic responses. Studying the issue, and basing your actions on informed conclusions, rather than acting on uninformed rumors or vengeance, is the most patriotic thing many of us can do at this point.
Owning a flag does not equal being a patriot. A flag is a colorful piece of cloth, nothing more went into its construction than did a shirt. While the materiel flag is essentially worthless, the flag as a symbol is priceless. What the symbol represents is larger than any one individual, is priceless beyond comparison, cannot be bought or sold, and is much greater than a cloth.
Countless Americans have died in wars defending this country, which is represented by the flag, but is NOT the flag itself. This is an important distinction that I think many Americans have looked past. Owning and flying a flag is not equal (not a sufficient and necessary condition) to being patriotic, though it can be a component of patriotism.
Flying a flag is a fantastic component of patriotism, please do not misunderstand me. It shows that one loves their country, are proud of their country, and stands as a symbol of unity. People who did not fly the flag prior to September 11th had reasons for not doing so. Being attacked by terrorist should not be the sole reason people are flying flags. Flags should be flown as a component of their patriotism, which should extend into areas other than the flag store.
I do not think I'll ever fully understand the events of September 11th, 2001. I am a part-time student, I work full-time, and I have a modestly active social life. I consider myself a decently well informed individual. I am one who attempts to speaks and act on solid information (as solid as it gets anyway), rather than hearsay. New York City is easily 700 miles away. I didn't hear the thunder as the building collapsed, I could not see the smoke, and I can not smell human ruin buried in that mountain of horror.
At this time of confusion and distrust, the best thing I can think to do is understand the situation as fully as possible, in order to base my actions upon informed conclusions. Jumping on ANY band wagon, be it an ultra-violent reaction or ultra-pacifist reaction, is the worst and most unpatriotic thing I could do. With the threat of further terrorist attacks, it is vital that every person make personal commitment to an informed patriot. A single person adding to this swell of misinformed, unpatriotic sentiment could very well push us over the edge. Should we go where others have gone; taking hearsay as fact, and grossly perverting the fundamentals of the country we love and defend, we are lost. If this happens, no amount of flag waving, however good the intentions are, is going to save us or the country we love.
