Is Patriotism Lame?
I don’t know what’s been going on in your hometown lately, but here in Toronto Canada we had a weekend full of violent protests. Police cars set on fire, windows of shops smashed, and approximately 900 people arrested. All of this was due to the G20 summit, which cost billions of dollars, not including the collateral damage.
Unfortunately most of the potential significance of the G20 summit was lost amidst the unfortunate violence and predictable condemnation of both the violent protesters and the police force – alternatively people are condemning the police for not doing enough to prevent the violence and sometimes in the same breath for doing too much! (Globe & Mail)
This incident is a black eye on the reputation of the usually wonderful city where I live, even though most of the violent “protesters” (in contrast to the majority of people there, who were peaceful protesters) were nothing more than opportunistic, cowardly vandals who cared little about the issues.
Incidents like these and a general feeling of skepticism and mistrust of government in general have led patriotism to be considered lame. Or even worse, could patriotism be intolerant? (Intolerance being the worst insult in a politically correct society.) Having pride in my country, thinking that it is in any way better than another, could be seen as being intolerant to other countries.
But I think the recent FIFA World Cup tournament provides an interesting example of how patriotism and tolerance are not opposed. Even though it is a sports competition between countries, it still is meant to be a way to foster greater understanding and camaraderie between the nations. At the end of FIFA matches, football (soccer) players will exchange their jersey with a member of the opponent squad as a way of “showing respect and camaraderie between combatants.” This sort of competition demonstrates that it’s possible to be patriotic and love your country while simultaneously respect others. (Yahoo!Sports)
So I don’t think patriotism is lame or antiquated. Canada Day was July 1 and Independence Day in the USA is July 4. This year, instead of negatively focusing on the problems and failings of our governments, why not spend some time thinking about what is good and praiseworthy about the nations in which we live?
What do you love about your country? What do you consider good and praiseworthy about it, and wish to share with the world?
Tags: Canada Day, country, darren hewer, Independence Day, July 1, July 4th, lame, love, patriotism, pride
I think Canadian patriotism–good-natured, pluralistic, and vaguely self-mocking–is cool. But I do get annoyed at folks who say our patriotism should look more like American patriotism. There’s something singularly weird about people telling me loving my country means pretending it’s not mine.
One thing I do love about Canadian patriotism is that I can point out when something’s drastically wrong. And the handling of the G20 protests were disastrous. I live downtown, and I have never felt so unsafe in all my life–not because of any protestors or Black Bloc or whatnot, but because of the people in uniform lined up in crosswalks and stalking up and down the street, looking for heads to crack.
This summer is a patriotic marker in my life where I was born and raised in the USA the first half my life and now in Canada the other half as a married women with children. I am very patriotic and am thankful for the many blessings each country has taught me thus far. Boldness/meakness, independence/interdependence, Healthy pride/ gentle humility, Celebrating diversity while desiring unity. It is sad to see the protests at the G20 summit, but is the reality of the world in which we live. The apostle Paul and Timothy write about this clash and wars that loom within while addressing the church of Philippi. I relate to this passage below dearly, because with dual citizenship, I see the positive things in each country and also the negative aspects of living in a fallen world. To see my true home (as a believer in Jesus) as Heaven helps to make some sense out of the senseless things we encounter in the here and now.
“But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.” Philippians 3:20-21 (The Message)
What’s in it for me?
This seems to be the motivating question in any world event. A player at the FIFA games knows better how to manage his reactions , because he knows whats in store for him. Unfortunately in Political events , besides the sparsely used tear gas shells …the more enraged a situation gets the stronger the message the media and the world receive. I don’t blame the protestors they are passive people like you and me…many a time these demonstrations are funded. The average person on the street cannot influence major decisions taken at a world summit such as the G-20. Wasted breath….the fever that gets stirred causes these passive people to turn riotous. I feel sorry for them to have been part of a wasted cause and get branded as rebellious, outraged or intolerant…these labels don’t match their inner selves.