c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) I learned about patriotism as a child.

One teacher was my father, a World War Two veteran, who took time off every Election Day to help citizens vote. Even when our political views diverged, I grew up knowing that free expression was our right and questioning the government our civic duty.

The other was School No. 70, in Indianapolis, where our daily Pledge of Allegiance and patriotic songs stood in profound contrast to the politically divided nation around us. While Sen. Joe McCarthy branded his opponents as “unpatriotic,” we sang of a “sweet land of liberty,” a bountiful land where “good” and “brotherhood” could reign, a “land of the free and home of the brave.”

While citizens of Arkansas and Mississippi fought to keep their schools segregated, we sang of “freedom’s holy light” shining on “all the starry band,” and School 70 quietly integrated. While local clubs worked to keep Jews out, we sang of a God who was “author of liberty” for all, not for a few.

Patriotism was about our better instincts, not our visceral hatreds and pride.

Patriotism was never about one political party or another, never about certain policies, never about loyalty to the government, never about victory in Korea or Vietnam. Politicians tried to turn patriotic fervor to their advantage, especially in wartime. But we knew better. We were taught that love of country _ love of “patria,” the “land of our fathers” _ was about freedom, “liberty in law,” free elections, free speech, free assembly, freedom to read any book for Nelle Leslie in fifth grade, freedom to dream beyond School 70, freedom to imagine a future unlike anything we knew, freedom to fall in love, freedom to make mistakes, freedom to learn and, in learning, freedom to ask questions.

Out of that training, I offer this Primer on Patriotism:

Patriotism isn’t the private preserve of any political party, no matter what their partisans say.

Patriotism is a call to study and to challenge the policies and leaders of our government, to give or to withhold our “consent,” lest the land we love be led astray.

Patriotism isn’t synonymous with any particular religion, but is a conviction that all people have a right to worship in a manner of their choosing, or not to worship at all.

Patriotism doesn’t belong to any one race, class, ethnic group, or early-arriving immigrants, but is a conviction that this is a “golden door” for “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

Patriotism is about a “fruited plain” that we inherited but didn’t create, about “grain” and “grace” that are ours to share, about places where people belong and cannot be told they don’t belong, where we bury our fathers and mothers and thereby feel a kinship to those around us.

Patriotism is about respect for those who engage in selfless duty such as military service, and a commitment that we won’t take their sacrifice lightly, squander their lives for small purpose, or accept anything less than a “new birth of freedom” as their gift.

Patriotism can feel pride or shame at the behavior of the nation, depending on how each citizen perceives that behavior. Pride and shame should be in dialogue, for no advance in our common life has come without free and energetic debate. Patriotism rejects any stifling of debate, quashing of dissent, or imposition of norms.

Patriotism doesn’t mean more societal, economic and cultural benefits for some and less for others. Those inequities might be human nature, they might reflect long patterns and different capabilities and luck, but patriotism declares that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” belong to all.

Patriotism isn’t a “wedge issue” to be deployed in pursuit of power. Patriotic fervor is a powerful force, especially in troubled times, and so it must be exercised respectfully and with mature restraint, not trotted out as the next banner to wave against one’s opponents.

MO/JL END RNS

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His forthcoming book, “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” will be published by Morehouse Publishing. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. His Web site is http://www.onajourney.org.)