American democracy is a continual work in progress towards a “more perfect union,” so for my part today here’s what I’m thinking about. How you think about this is equally important (if not more), so if you’d like, share a reply, or just celebrate today however you do. Best wishes to you and yours,
—KJH
If patriotism and love of country were ever a given, that doesn’t quite seem universal today. “I just don’t feel I can be proud to be American,” a friend lamented not long ago. I find this deeply saddening, and I don’t think it has to be this way.
I certainly get why people like my friend feel regret and even shame for the many times that our country has fallen short of its ideals. After all, the famous phrase “…all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence contained, at the time, as much irony as idealism coming from the men who penned it. And even 250 years later, it only takes a cursory glace at a newspaper to gag on yet another transgression of ethical norms in our body politic.
But I don’t feel that patriotism should be conditioned upon America being a perfect place or an invariably virtuous actor among nations. To my mind, patriotism is based upon at least two things (please hear me out before saying, “Ya, but…”).
Gratitude
First, I’m patriotic because I’m grateful for the accident of my birth here.[1] What some people can forget is that even the lowliest, poorest, most socially marginalized American is someone who a couple billion people on this Earth would gladly change places with—in a heartbeat. Patriotism is first and foremost about gratitude for the grace that has been “shed on thee.” We should not take this for granted.
Reverence
Second, I’m patriotic because I feel fortunate to live in a country that reveres its values and ideals. As much as anything, America is based on a set of ideas towards which continual striving by “we the people” is required. I don’t know about you, but I’m always falling short of my personal ideals, so I’m unclear why anyone would expect a nation comprised of all of us to come any closer to collective perfection than we ourselves do as individuals. America is not unique among nations in this, but it seems fair to say that, since our founding, we have had a particular dedication to certain “self-evident” truths, our adherence to which (or not) we ferociously debate. Some of our best moments have come when have called out our dereliction to those ideals (think, the invocation of our founding principals by Martin Luther King in the lead up to passage of the civil rights laws). This should be a source of great national pride.
Everyone’s entitled to their personal feelings about this, of course, including my friend. Perhaps the best we can do on this national anniversary is to take a moment of personal reflection on what we Americans have, and what we need to improve upon. And if we disagree about those things, well…somehow that seems very American.
[1] Until recently, birthright citizenship was considered a bedrock feature, not a bug, of the Constitution. But if the recent US Supreme Court case of Trump v. Barbara is any indication, this may now be one or two votes from changing, which is worrisome.
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