John McCain says I’m not a patriot

Published on July 10, 2008
by Jimmy Shaw

In a July 4th weekend column for the Parade magazine that comes in your Sunday paper, John McCain offers the following definition of patriotism:

“It is putting the country first … before anything.”

Uh-oh. Senator McCain may not realize it, but he just excluded me. And most other Christians … right?

I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag??

I have to go with Kester Smith on this one. I don’t see how any Jesus follower could affirm this kind of patriotism. After Sept. 11, like a lot of people, I got kinda sucked into the patriotic, quasi-Christian, nationalistic, America-first fervor of the moment. But honestly I’m not a Nationalist. I don’t buy into American Exceptionalism and while I love and appreciate my country, I’m hesitant to pledge my allegiance to anyone not named Jesus.

military-salute-pledge-allegiance.jpg

A cause greater than ourselves

Again, from Sen. McCain’s piece on patriotism:

“[Those who’ve served in war] remember where they risked everything, absolutely everything, for the country that sent them there. It gives their lives special meaning. And it is the sacrifices of so many Americans, at home and abroad, in times of peace and times of war, that give meaning to all of us. We are blessed to be Americans, and blessed that so many of us have so often believed in a cause far greater than self-interest….” (emphasis mine, jcs)

Yes, I believe in a cause greater than self-interest … greater than American interest. But it’s a cause that does not draw special meaning from the “sacrificial death” of American soldiers or of America’s Enemies’ soldiers. To find meaning there is to hitch my dreams to the wrong wagon, to march under the wrong flag, to worship the wrong king.

As inspiring as saccarine

I’m not certain that Senator Obama’s definition of patriotism is noticeably better.

[T]rue patriotism also means a willingness to sacrifice for our common good…. Those who have signed up to fight for our country in distant lands inspire me…. The greatness of our country—its victories in war, its enormous wealth, its scientific and cultural achievements—have resulted from the toil, drive, struggle, restlessness, humor, and quiet heroism of the American people.

While his language is more subtle and opens up to possibilities beyond exceptionalism, as a candidate for President he is compelled to bow at the altar of “true patriotism”, military sacrifice, and victory in war. Because really, what’s the point of wearing a flag on your lapel if you’re not ready to promise death and sacrifice in service to that flag? And when he does step away from the worship of flag-draped sacrifice, his language softens into trite cliches about “the liberty of each of us to follow our dreams.”

Oh, please! I realize that both of these are fluff-piece editorials for a fluff weekend “magazine.” But parts of this sound like the actual copy of Obama’s kindergarten essay the Clinton camp was so excited about.

Deconstructing American patriotism

Still, there is an interesting and powerful thread in Obama’s column worthy of consideration. He ends with a line about allegiance: “allegiance to America’s singular creed.”

Well, that might mean almost anything. And you won’t be surprised if I say I’m just as hesitant to pledge allegiance to America’s Creed (whatever it may be) as I am to America’s Flag. Except that I think Sen. Obama is pointing to a creed that threatens the very assumptions of patriotism:

I remember listening to my mother reading me the first lines of the Declaration of Independence and explaining how its ideas applied to every American, black and white and brown alike. She told me that those words, and the words of the United States Constitution, protected us from the brutal injustices we witnessed other people suffering….

Look, I’m not going to give Barack Obama a whole lot of credit here for these lines. Mainly because he still turns them into an opportunity for exceptionalism (notice the phrase “every American”). But I think this is what he means by America’s singular creed; notice what those opening lines of the Declaration say:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Still as brilliant as when they wrote it. Yes, yes it needs some perpetual translation (men = humanity, includes all races, etc.). But the power is there, even as their context prevented them from seeing women and slaves as part of the promise.

But more than that, it’s a decidedly un-American creed. It’s a call to something much higher than American interest. It makes modern-day patriotism appear parochial, selfish, and potentially abusive.

Creator-endowed rights for all of humanity is a high standard. And one that can hardly be seen as applying only to “every American”, though it has surely been applied in chauvinistic ways. Taking this text seriously means that we must have a kind of universal regard for the rights, lives, and liberties of others.

Anyway, it got me thinking that maybe, just maybe, being loyal to America and putting America first before anything might not be — in a manner of speaking — the “American Way.”

Oh…that, and as a Christian, it reminded me of why I can really appreciate something Brian McLaren said this week in a post entitled Faith, Politics, and Voting:

And as a citizen of God’s kingdom which transcends all national boundaries, I can’t simply vote based on what’s best for US citizens: My vote has to have in mind the good of Mexicans, Canadians, Iraqis, Iranians, Chinese, and Burundians as well.

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