I’m up early this morning, feeling anxious about today’s church service. In the past, my church has done a little something in honor of Memorial Day, but this year most of our service is dedicated to it.
And while, on the one hand, I think that’s good, on the other I am sort of uncomfortable with the whole “patriotic” aspect of it and Memorial day in general.
I love and respect our service men and women. They committed to a cause I could not. Even my father was prepared to serve his country during the time of the Vietnam war. (He’s passed now, so I don’t know the whole story of why his service was cut short – the war ended, I know that’s part of it… but I digress). It’s not something I was able to consider in my life due to poor health as a kid (and, honestly, not having any real interest in it).
But patriotism, the concept just eludes me. The whole idea of loving one’s country and all the parades and flag-waving and everything that goes with it, I just don’t get it. The almost fanatical support of our military as a whole and the glorifying of wars… the nostalgia of it….it’s beyond me.
Call me un-American if you wish, but I just can’t participate in the religious fervor of glorifying “country”. What are we supposed to love?
The land? I live in the desert, and there are some incredible views near my house. It’s like living in the Grand Canyon sometimes. But while I “like” the place, I don’t know if I “love” it.
The people? I love all mankind (generally speaking) and wish we could all live in peace and equality, but do I love what people have done for this country? The elite few with massive wealth while the middle class has all but vanished into poverty and the division of the left from the right…. I don’t know if I can love that.
Am I to love the government? I’m not even going to go into that.
Am I supposed to love our “rights” and “freedom”? Well, yeah, ok. But there are other countries that have just as many (and in some cases more) “rights and freedoms” as we do (I know there are second amendment types that will say “what about the guns?” I count that as a freedom FROM gun violence – but that’s a debate for another post.) And our religious freedom? Well, yes. There is that. But again, it’s no longer unique to us. Most “first world” countries have similar rights when it comes to church going (and my atheist, humanist, and agnostic friends might even say they have more freedoms when it comes to the right to “not believe”.)
“But there are so many that died to protect our rights!” well, yes. I’ll give you that. Up to and including WWII. While I respect the sacrifice made by those in Korea, Vietnam, the first Gulf War, the second Gulf War, Afghanistan, and dozens of other military actions that are too numerous to mention (Panama, Nicaragua, etc), I don’t think those military actions were about protecting Americans and American Rights.
Before you stone me, hear me out. Then you can still stone me, but I stand by what I’m saying.
World War II and the”great war” that preceded it were about countries of the world coming together to protect not only their own people, but to protect others. Axis and Allies. There was a great “evil” that needed to be stopped. And while the price was high, it was the right thing to do, not just for America and Americans, but for humanity.
Since then we have either gotten involved in things that we didn’t need to be (Korea, Vietnam) or we were doing it for “American Interests” and not Americans. We sent troops to protect sea ports and oil wells. And yes, Bin Laden was bad, and Al Queda continues to be a threat, but they’re like stinging bees. You swat them; you don’t invade the wrong country with thousands of men and shoot innocent people who are just in the wrong place.
I support the men and women that serve, but I cannot feel patriotic about the government and military machine that has sent them more to protect the rights of Exxon than for the freedoms of Americans. There is nothing I can feel any sense of pride or any urge to wave a flag in anything that I have seen in the history of our military actions since the 1950s. It’s now more about using this massive military toy we have, having an excuse for its existence rather than any real “fighting for Americans and freedom”. There have been no acts of war on American soil since Pearl Harbor. And yes, I’m counting 9-11. That wasn’t an act of war; it was an act of terror. It wasn’t an attack on American Freedoms and Rights, it was an attack on false ideas and committed out of misplaced hate. And it wasn’t a world power seeking to dominate and subjugate humanity, it was a few men, a handful. We don’t need a huge military machine to deal with a handful. We need a few well trained snipers and drone pilots.
No. I don’t feel patriotism for our military as a whole. I feel a sense of awe and respect for those that have served. I will honor the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice. I will give all respect to those that were willing to do so and served in times of peace, prepared to make that sacrifice if needed. But I have nothing but contempt for the Commanders and Presidents that have involved American soldiers only for capitalism. Then tried to push it on the American public like they were doing the world the same great service we gave in WWII. I can’t support that.
So what does that leave for me to feel like a “patriot”? Our history? Our historical documents? OK, sure. I get some of that. Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, good stuff. Great writing. The Revolutionary War? I have an ancestor that fought to create our country. That’s something I can get behind. Somewhat. But is what I feel “patriotism”? Awe? Sure. A bit of pride? OK. But is that patriotism?
Maybe.
And if that is what I need to get behind the idea of Memorial Day as a patriotic holiday, then I guess I can do that.
I’ll stop ranting now. God bless. Have a great weekend.
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