Patriotism

Discerning What Is Best
with Dr. Rex M. Rogers

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 17 November 2024

American patriotism has taken a lot of hits in recent years. Should Americans be patriotic? Is there anything really to be patriotic about?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #179 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

America has been called a Christian nation, though this description has been hotly debated.

America has been called “the first new nation” by eminent sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset.

America has been called “The Great Experiment” by no less than George Washington.

America has been said to be great because it is good, and that it would cease to be great if it ceased to be good.

This observation has been variously attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville and others, but whoever said it the phrase captures America’s sense of itself as the land of opportunity, the land of the free and the home of the brave, ideas rooted in the Judeo-Christian moral consensus that gave meaning and destiny to the American people their first two hundred years.

America’s experience with Christianity is an historic and storied one, not always consistent with biblical theology but one of depth, influence, and impact.

Several lines of scholarly consideration developed from America’s unique experience with religious liberty and the impact of Christianity:

American exceptionalism, the idea America developed from a set of values that became a creed affirming what the Founders considered self-evident truths, that human beings are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, equality before the law, justice, individual responsibility. It is an historical interpretation and cultural philosophy that bespoke America’s sense of itself as different, special, and “the last best hope of earth.”

American imperialism,in the late 19^thand 20^th Centuries an extension of American ideals and power across the world, some say to protect freedom, others say to dominate. It captures an American view of its purpose as special, different, or above.

Christian nationalism, the idea America was created by Christians and should be run by Christians without separation of church and state. It is a political ideology that conflates the cross and the flag, in essence looking upon the USA as a kind of theocracy. This point of view distorts both the Gospel and democracy.

Civil religion, a sort of melding of a country’s dominant religious views and its political philosophy in everyday practical social life and rituals, e.g., displaying the US flag in churches, singing the National Anthem or “God Bless America” at sporting events, what sociologist Robert N. Bellah called, “an institutionalized collection of sacred beliefs about the American nation.”

These expressions of Christianity and culture in American history offer upsides and downsides. The upside of American exceptionalism, for example, is that it gave America a purpose, a moral destiny. The downside is that it worked itself out at times in movements like 19^th Century Manifest Destiny, which in its best suit gave Americans a proactive, optimistic, forward-looking attitude, “Go West young man, Go West.” People strongly believed in the virtue and the right of the American political culture and system and that their progress was inevitable and justifiable. But in its worst suit Manifest Destiny destroyed the beaver, the buffalo, the rich prairie eventually resulting in the Dust Bowl, and the Native American population.

Historically, many indigenous, aboriginal, or other people-groups, including Native Americans, thought of themselves simply as “The People.” The Ancient Chinese referred to themselves, for example, as “the People of the Middle Kingdom,” meaning they considered themselves the center of civilization and all those around them and beyond were barbarians.

The point is, whether American exceptionalism, Manifest Destiny, American imperialism, Christian nationalism, or civil religion, it is fairly easy to demonstrate that Americans have, like other civilizations, tended to think of themselves as remarkable.

This, in itself, is not remarkable. It is only an issue if this sense of our own identity, as remarkable, morphs into a philosophy that we are somehow better, or above, or special, or entitled, by which we, “the people,” begin to judge and treat others as less than.

Or, this sense that Americans are remarkable becomes an issue when many in the current political environment of the 21^st Century think America is anything-but-remarkable, in fact these Americans reject their heritage and identity by attacking the values, the political system, and the spirit of what it has meant to be an American. This is remarkable.

In America’s past, Christianity was cited to justify slavery in the ante-bellum South and decimate the American Indian in the 1870s-90s, yet Christianity was also applied righteously in the abolition movement and the Civil War in the 1860s and eventually the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The record is mixed because American Christians are, like all human beings, finite and sinful creatures. We see through a glass darkly.

However, to the good, Christianity influenced the development of American law, education, politics, economics, culture, and progress toward liberty and justice for all. The impact of scriptural values can be seen in cultural mores regarding sexuality, marriage, family and child-rearing, work ethic, property, free enterprise, public morality, social cohesion, and politics.

E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many One, served as a de facto national motto from 1782 until “In God We Trust” was officially adopted in 1956. E Pluribus Unum is a Latin phrase rooted in a Christian conception of society. Significantly, it is not E Pluribus Tantum, Only Many. The “diversity” being marketed today, often absolutized as a value with little or no concern for unity, is a recipe for social disaster.

I love my country, and I am blessed with many international friends who love their country, but it must be said, being “Christian” and being American or Lebanese or English or French or Chinese or Egyptian or any of the other 195 nations in the world is not the same thing.

This does not mean God does not care about nations. In fact, the Scripture is chock-full of references to the Lord’s work in the midst of, despite, and through nation states.

But God’s will and the Word of God are not the same, in fact are entirely distinct from, the presence, politics, and/or policies of nation states. God accomplishes his purposes in every age, no matter the political configurations of the time.

What then does all this have to do with the ease with which some equate their religious faith, ideology, partisanship, or demography with a morally superior, righteous, and unassailable position?

It is this: if American “Christians” carry an attitude of superiority into their ideological, partisan, or personal identity they not only sacrifice the power of the faith to change the world, they also easily fall prey to a self-appointed moral righteousness.

In other words, one’s viewpoint is no longer just one perspective to be evaluated and debated along with many others in the marketplace of ideas. No, one’s viewpoint is non-debatable, non-negotiable, unimpeachable, inviolable. One’s viewpoint can brook no challenge, give no quarter, take no prisoners. One’s viewpoint is sacrosanct. The other viewpoints are therefore by definition not worthy, not worth hearing, and possibly so dangerous they must be silenced.

While this assumption of ideological superiority is exactly what the Left and left-leaning liberalism does, no Christian who attempts to adhere to Scripture can justify such lack of humility and outright arrogance.

This assumption of unbreachable moral righteousness is also something that political conservatives must avoid. Winning is fun, and MAGA supporters earned a substantial victory in the November 2024 election, so yes, to the victor belong the spoils, and in the months ahead the conservative MAGA movement should enact its policies as supported by the American people. But they must also avoid the human desire to dance on their opposition’s logo, to vindicate themselves by quashing others needlessly, to seeking to silence other points of view. Freedom of speech means freedom to speak viewpoints others consider objectionable, Christian or conservative or liberal or left.

Scripture says, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,”
Col. 3:12.

The USA, God be praised, is still a land where religious liberty is honored, and with it freedom of speech. It is a place where all people, including Christians, can learn to discern how their faith can contribute to lives and culture. May this struggle, this Great Experiment, continue.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. Or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers for more podcasts and video.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/ or my YouTube Channel @DrRexRogers, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers or https://x.com/RexMRogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 04 July 2023

Patriotism seems to have fallen out of favor in recent years, but is it really passe or are can we find ways to express a legitimate and responsible Christian patriotism?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #95 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

The original television Superman of my youth was introduced with the statement, “Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Superman! Battling for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.”

But a few years ago, in the 900th issue of Action Comics, after officials criticize him for joining a million protesters in a peaceful anti-Ahmadinejad vigil in Iran, Superman says, “I am renouncing my US citizenship…I’m tired of having my actions construed as instruments of US policy. ‘Truth, Justice and the American Way’ — it’s not enough anymore. The world’s too small. Too connected.”

It seems that we aren’t sure any more about “Truth” or “Justice,” and we certainly aren’t sure about “the American Way.” More things change, more they remain the same and vice versa. One of the things that has changed is our attitude toward Patriotism. Arguing America had an unworthy beginning, stands for false ideals, and blaming America for all the world’s problems is a cottage industry on the Left.

But everyone is patriotic. The key is not whether we are patriotic, but what we are patriotic for, toward, or about.

Patriotism at its best is about what we believe, what we live for, and what we are willing to die for.

Patriotism is more than moral platitudes. It is a moral enterprise, an expression of a people’s ideals and aspirations relating to their homeland.

America has been described as the "great experiment" because its founding principles and system of governance were revolutionary for their time.

The United States was founded on the idea of individual liberty—most especially freedom of religion and freedom of speech—democratic governance, and a government derived from the consent of the governed. Add First Amendment freedom of religion and speech and you have something unique in history.

This experiment involved testing whether a diverse and vast nation could sustain a democratic republic, with power shared among its citizens and a system of checks and balances.Throughout its history, America has faced challenges and obstacles, including conflicts, social movements, and economic shifts. The experiment lies in its ongoing pursuit of fulfilling the ideals set forth in its founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution, to create a more perfect union.The United States' journey as the "great experiment" involves grappling with questions of religious freedom, law and order for e pluribus unum, equality under the law and equality of opportunity, blind justice, and the balance between individual freedom and collective responsibility.

The United States was riven by a Civil War in which the Union was preserved, slavery was disallowed, and once again North and South through a long road became the land of the free and the home of the brave with freedom, abundance, and opportunity the envy of the world.

The terms "republic" and "democracy" are often used interchangeably, but they represent different forms of government, each with its own characteristics.A republic is a system of government in which power resides in elected representatives who are responsible for making and enforcing laws. In a republic, the country is considered a public matter, and decisions are made by representatives chosen by the citizens. The key feature of a republic is the delegation of authority to elected officials who act on behalf of the people. The United States is a federal republic where citizens elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf.On the other hand, a democracy is a system of government in which power rests with the people as a whole. In a democracy, all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. This can be achieved directly, through direct democracy, where citizens vote on every issue, or indirectly, through elected representatives.

Direct democracy has rarely worked well or for long, yet there are many today—on the Left and the Right—who press for this form of government today because they want their political perspectives to become law.

Christians have been involved in this country’s history from its founding, through its ups and downs, failures and successes. The key for us on this July 4^th is to think about what might be called a “responsible” Christian patriotism.

Responsible Christian patriotism refers to the idea of expressing love, loyalty, and pride for one's country in a manner consistent with Christian values and principles. It involves recognizing the intersection between one's faith and one's patriotism and striving to align them in a responsible and ethical way.Christianity teaches principles such as love, compassion, justice, humility, and the value of every human being as made in the image of God. Responsible Christian patriotism incorporates these principles into one's love for their country. It means recognizing the inherent dignity and worth of all people, irrespective of their national heritage or race, and advocating for freedom, law and order that reinforces both justice and opportunity, and the common good.At its core, a responsible Christian patriotism encourages a balanced perspective that acknowledges the strengths and achievements of one's country while also recognizing its flaws and areas for improvement. It values the principles of liberty, individual responsibility and accountability, freedom of opportunity, and merit-based advancement as foundational to the well-being and flourishing of both the nation and its citizens.Responsible Christian patriotism is not an unthinking, uncritical, blind loyalty: “America, love it or leave it,” “My country right or wrong but right or wrong my country,” “Theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to do or die.” This can be national idolatry.

Responsible Christian patriotism is not simply love of space or place: the land. “America the Beautiful” – a great chunk of geography. While it is true, America is a beautiful country, other countries of the world, all enjoy their own kind of beauty. Claiming ours is betters can lead us down into provincial, parochial, or isolationist thinking.

Responsible Christian patriotism is not simply love for a people: “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy, Yankee Doodle Do or Die.” Keying on this thought can lead us into ethnocentric, prejudiced or bigoted, racist, or even xenophobic attitudes and behaviors.

No, responsible Christian patriotism recognizes American patriotism is about freedom of worship, individual worth, dignity, and liberty. “The land of the free and the home of the brave.”

It’s about no king, no president, no dictator or regime, no political entity is of greater value than the single person – free to worship, free to think, free to work and own the fruits of his or her labor, free to pursue opportunity, free to pursue happiness.

Patriotism is an emotion much maligned today by the cynical, (many captured by the intellectual cul-de-sacs of ideology or identity politics). Some now reject all expressions of appreciation or heroes past. But no time, country, or culture, much less people are without failures, or worse. The USA is no different. Yet while acknowledging flaws we can remember those who gave the last full measure of devotion. And we can be patriotic about ideals, the values to which we aspire: freedom of religion, speech, assembly and association, life, liberty, and justice for all.

For all its struggles, the land of the free and the home of the brave is a blessed place to live.

Responsible Christian patriotism expresses gratitude.

If you want to be a good American patriot, start by being a good American Christian.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 29 May 2023

What does Memorial Day mean to you? What does it mean to your children?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #89 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Memorial Day became an official holiday in 1950, just two years before I came into the world. It was intended, and still should be, as a patriotic time for remembering those who sacrificed for freedom. Remembering, even caring, it sometimes seems, is a greater challenge in a time when only a small percentage of Americans ever serve in the military, and when it seems that history, especially anything touting America’s goodness, is passe, something to be apathetically ignored.

But the value of remembrance is great, as is patriotism rightly understood.

In the USA, patriotism has suffered ebbs and flows in recent years, but it still exists. Indeed, patriotism is a global phenomenon, one of the world’s most powerful emotions. It comes from the Greek word patrios, “of one’s father,” meaning love of one’s home or fatherland.

Patriotism is love of one’s homeland—about geography, Yes, “home” for sure, but more importantly, patriotism is about ideals, culture.

Patriotism is not the same as nationalism, the former involving values and aspirations, the latter involving a political order and power. Patriotism and religion are not the same, though one may be engaged, even co-opted by the other. But patriotic people may not be religious and religious people may not be patriotic.

I was blessed to be born an American, I am red, white, and blue patriotic, and I deeply appreciate the founding ideals that defined America, i.e., life, liberty, freedom of religion, speech, mobility, and enterprise, and the rule of law.

My love for my country does not mean I believe Americans are better people than people from other countries, that we’ve always done everything right, or that our leaders past and present were always right. Clearly, Americans have not always done the right thing and leaders have not always been upstanding and correct in their moral outlook. But saying so does not diminish genuine patriotic feeling, for critique is part of freedom of conscience and thought, one blessing of liberty.

Despite our flaws and in recent years American political leaders have made a list of poor, unwise, immoral, and politically dangerous decisions that make our perfect Union less perfect. Yet while acknowledging flaws we can, and we should, always respectfully remember those who gave the last full measure of devotion.

And we can be patriotic about ideals, the values to which we aspire: freedom of religion, speech, assembly and association, life, liberty, and justice for all. For all its struggles, the land of the free and the home of the brave is a blessed place to live.

“God loves people from every nation, race, language, and tribe. Having said that, however, I believe the United States is a unique representation of the grace and mercy of God…(Yes, I believe in what’s called American exceptionalism – not triumphalism but beneficiaries of a blessed endowment.)

The liberty and freedom we know today has emerged from a Christian worldview. Ideas like equality before the law, women’s rights, children’s rights, fair labor practices, tolerance, and civil rights—all of those have emerged from a Judeo-Christian worldview. We act as if all of the world knows the liberties and freedoms that we do, and this simply isn’t true. We are unique. The liberties, freedoms, and opportunities we have, have come to us as an inheritance, and are not to be rested upon and gobbled up as we stamp our feet like petulant children, demanding the government provide something else for us. They are a heritage to be protected, guarded, and extended to one another, and handed down to the generation who follows us.”

“America’s democratic experiment, though bruised and struggling, continues and deserves to be celebrated – especially amidst the grave political divisions and growing despair of the present.”

I sometimes think about the fact that I did nothing to secure the blessings of liberty and abundance that are my birthright as an American citizen. In the providence of God, I was born here to American parents. So, my access to life, liberty, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, law and order, all are simply a gift to me from those who served and sacrificed to protect and preserve these freedoms – Remembering them is what Memorial Day is all about.

That I did nothing to earn or deserve my blessings can be said regarding my status as a Christian believer, as a person who has accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, and who God promises an eternity with him. God gives me immeasurable benefits, and promises more, for which—there it is again—I did nothing. I did not work for my salvation and was not awarded it because of some special character or achievement on my part. No, it is a free gift, by grace through faith in Christ. Sola gratia, sola fide, sola Christus, soli Deo gloria.

So, think about this with me. I enjoy a political birthright as a result of being born into an American family, and I enjoy a spiritual birthright as a result of choosing to trust in Christ’s sacrificial shedding of blood and death on the cross, so that I can be reborn or born again into the Body of Christ. My birth and my rebirth have bestowed upon me blessedness beyond words. Should I not remember and be grateful?

I feel this way about my American citizenship.

Memorial Day is a time to reflect on what is good and precious about this country.

The ideals the Founding Fathers embraced and upon which this country was established still, praise God, exist:

While an increasing number of Americans reject God and absolute moral truth, there yet remain many who acknowledge the God who is there and who affirm Judeo-Christian values that made this country strong in its first 200 years.

Immigrants from around the world still want to come to America. Why? Because they know this is yet the freest, most generous, most abundantly materially blessed country in the world, as Lincoln called it, “last best hope of earth.”

America is a place wherein each individual is free to choose how to worship God, or for that matter whether to worship at all.

America respects not only the rule of law but the right to create value from one’s work, to own property, and to develop personal wealth.

Americans are free to move about the country without showing their internal passports to armed guards demanding to “see your papers.”

America’s history is characterized by peaceful transfers of power based upon free elections and a secret ballot box.

Repeated war-time experience convincingly demonstrates that America really is the “home of the brave.” The Civil Rights Movement illustrates that America is capable of growing even through pain.

For me, celebrating Memorial Day is a form of gratitude. Freedom is a most precious gift, one easily lost.

“There is no more fitting way to end this than with the treasured final words of Lincoln on the fields of Gettysburg in November of 1863. ‘The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.’”

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 27 June 2022

Patriotism is one of the strongest emotions human beings express, but it seems to come and go. What does patriotism mean in a more skeptical, jaded age? Should we express patriotism at all? And what does it mean when we do?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #31 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

I grew up in the 1950s and 60s. In the wake of WWII and the Korean War, the 50s was a decade of peace, prosperity, and patriotism. It was like a national take-a-break breather in which families freely celebrated their lives and loved ones. It was “Leave It To Beaver.”

Even though the Civil Rights Movement that benefited Black citizens did not occur until the mid-1960s, yet African Americans en masse were able to in-migrate from the Deep South to the industrial opportunities of northern cities like Detroit.

I remember watching “Adventures of Superman” starring George Reeves on black and white TV – “Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Superman! Battling for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.”

It seems that we aren’t sure any more about “the American Way.” In 2011, a Superman comic featured the “Man of Steel” renouncing his American citizenship to become a citizen of the world, ostensibly so his actions wouldn’t be viewed as a tool of American policy. More recently in 2021, DC Comics announced that the “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” motto would be changed to the rather lame “Truth, Justice and a Better Tomorrow.” So much for patriotism.

The 1960s weathered the Counter-culture movement, the beginning so the sexual revolution, assassinations, and of course, Viet Nam, producing rioting in the streets. Sex, drugs, and rock n roll. Make love, not war. One huge ripple from all this was a culture that no longer trusted political authority, questioned its country’s values, and laughed at what was once called the American Dream.

Fast forward to 2022, and after a relatively brief resurgence of patriotism in the awful aftermath of 9/11, we now find an American culture less apt to express patriotism than ever before.

Yes, the national anthem is still played at sports events and yes, politicians, still acknowledge American ideals, and yes, many Americans are still deeply patriotic – as are internationals with respect to their own countries – but a profound social tension exists in the 21^st Century between those historically expressed American ideals and what people consider their incomplete fulfillment.

Some Americans hear talk about “justice for all,” or “all are created equal” and roll their eyes. They consider America a fraud, a source of systemic injustice. Their anti-American vitriol seems to believe that the U.S. has done nothing right, nor can it, that it is prima facie guilty, and worst of all, cannot be salvaged, indeed should be “reset,” which means overthrown.

Certainly, we must recognize that America now faces certain cultural acids, genuine threats to its historic defining ideals, that is, ideologies that promote moral relativism, bias against Judeo-Christian values, and an unfettered extension of the sexual revolution.

And while some have reacted to these developments with uncritical hyper-patriotism, including ill-advised and unbiblical Christian nationalists, it’s nevertheless the case that we live once again during a less patriotic age.

One clear reason for this is that America was founded by people who not only believed in religious liberty and the existence of religious faith,

but believed this religious understanding was essential to the foundation of a free society. In other words, we need religious faith to survive as a free culture and country. Without it, or with it in decline as we’re witnessing now, we see the logical outcomes, reduced shared values, lower sense of community, lack of vision or a sense of moral destiny, alienation, envy, and terminal unhappiness in the endless pursuit of happiness.

But I still believe not only in my Christian faith but in the timeless ideals upon which the American Experiment was founded. I believe because I’ve seen the evidence of the truth and power of these ideas, the consequences of which has been the freest and most productive society in history.

I believe America is still capable of moral ambition as an example of how to provide freedom and justice for all, of being in Lincoln’s immortal words, the “last best hope on earth.”

America’s progress toward fulfillment of its ideals has come in fits and starts, valleys and mountaintops, because we are human. This is the human experience. We are not perfect and never will be, but we strive for the glory of God and the wellbeing of our families. We remain committed to God-given liberty, to truth and justice for all, to firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right.

So, I am still patriotic. I am proud to be an American. I am still grateful for what God has done in this nation called America. I believe in our defining creed, and I want to reinforce the nation’s character for the future and my own grandchildren.

The best way I can do this is to live a morally responsible and upstanding life as a Christian and as an American citizen. Same for you. Be patriotic.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 16 August 2020

The red, white, and blue American flag is striking. But more important than its aesthetic appeal is what it symbolizes.

The “Stars and Stripes,” “Old Glory,” the flag of these United States of America, is a powerful expression of the country’s ideals.

I am one who appreciates what this flag, in various forms since the Second Continental Congress’s Flag Resolution adopted June 14, 1777, represents, even beyond the colors. It embodies principles of liberty, history, pitfalls and progress, and most of all, sacrifice. Admiring the flag, caring for it, believing in what it symbolizes is a form of patriotism.

This said, I do not believe the American flag is sacred, that it is or should be raised to the level of religious icon. Nor do I think that the “Star Spangled Banner,” adopted by the Navy in 1899 and considered a de facto National Anthem by the military branches during the 19^th Century, then officially adopted by Congress March 3, 1931 for the United States, is some sort of holy expression.

The fact that I don’t consider the flag sacred makes it possible for me to understand why the United States Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), and reaffirmed in U.S. v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990), ruled that due to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, it is unconstitutional for a government (whether federal, state, or municipal) to prohibit the desecration of a flag, due to its status as "symbolic speech." Despite a number of attempts to ban the practice, desecration of the flag remains protected as free speech.

I don’t like desecration of the flag, indeed despise pictures of people burning the flag. I have never damaged the flag and would not recommend this to anyone for any reason. But if someone chooses to profane the flag to express some point of view, I consider this what it is, their freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech is what matters most, not the flag that symbolizes that freedom. This is the paradox. Someone desecrating the flag is participating in a civil liberty the flag represents.

Something similar is occurring with “taking a knee,” the shorthand for not standing in respect during playing of the National Anthem. This has been an issue in American professional sports since 2016.

Back in 2016-2017, I did not take a position arguing football player Colin Kaepernick crossed a line when he took a knee during the playing of the National Anthem. I said I thought the way he and others chose to protest was ill-advised and I still think this, but I did not think then and don’t think now that an athlete’s freedom of speech should be denied because the way they choose to express it offends people.

This goes both ways. I don’t like Kaepernick and now entire professional sports teams taking a knee during the National Anthem, but I think it’s their liberty to do so. I also think it is fans’ liberty to choose not to watch this protest or not to agree with this act of protesting and/or the reason for the protest or to choose not to continue watching or supporting this professional sport. Fans, at least some of them, are likely to “vote with their feet” and walk away. So, while there are guaranteed freedoms of speech there may also be consequences.

By the same token though, I don’t think football quarterback Drew Brees should have been excoriated by players and celebrities alike for simply expressing his respect for the flag, something most of the country believed just a short time ago. He’s apologized multiple times since, as has his wife, and after a while it sounds like groveling. He was verbally attacked and his character impugned for daring to express his point of view, one that at first didn’t fit the prevailing acceptable narrative so was deemed “insensitive.”

The essence of the First Amendment’s freedom of speech guarantee is that all speech that is not coupled with acts of violence may be expressed – whether or not we like the speech or find if offensive or obnoxious or even vile.

So again, I appreciate and respect the American flag and what it represents.

I do not like it when the flag is intentionally disrespected, much less desecrated.

I don’t like it when athletes and teams “take a knee” during the National Anthem, but I believe it is their right as American citizens to express themselves.

For me, the ultimate is what that flag means.

It means freedom of religion, speech, assembly, people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances, to keep and bear arms.
It means constitutional civil liberties and later civil rights. It means “land of the free and home of the brave.”
It means ““Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
It means in terms of freedom the United States of America is “the last best hope of earth.”

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Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 05 August 2020

Patriotism has been taking it on the nose in the USA of late.

Social media and Big Media alike feature wall-to-wall coverage of rioters “dissing” the country, what it stands for (or rather, what they say it stands for), and “the system.” Tearing down statues of the nation’s founders, suggesting Mt. Rushmore should be destroyed because it’s on “stolen Native American land,” refusing to stand for the National Anthem, posting anti-American diatribes on social media, and burning flags are now par for the course.

Ironically, those expressing their displeasure are doing so in “a system” that gives them the blessing of freedom of speech, expression even, and assembly. No one tracks them down and puts them in jail for saying what they do – this even though many of these new, “woke” individuals try to “call out” and “cancel” anyone who disagrees with their point of view.

People sacrificed and died for our civil liberties, yet the agitators hold forth in mind-boggling lack of self-awareness, attacking the very ideals that protect their right to express themselves, however obnoxiously.

You’d be forgiven for thinking American patriotism is dead, or at least in its last throes.

Meanwhile, patriotism remains one of the most powerful emotions known to humanity, one of the world's most potent forces. It's something we feel more often than think about. All people around the globe feel it to one degree or another.

But no nation possesses the wealth of patriotic symbols found in the United States. No country boasts the number of patriotic songs—enough for entire concerts and then some—as the American nation state. “USA,” “USA,” “USA” is a powerful chant.

Yes, it is true, the United States is far from perfect, and sometimes we struggle to realize "liberty and justice for all." But no nation's history even remotely approaches America's attempt to believe in, fight to protect, and celebrate human freedom. No nation continues to attract immigrants from all over the world, not for the weather but for the freedom and opportunity America provides.

Truly felt and expressed American patriotism is about more than a love for the land and a love for the people. America is about ideals. Patriotism at its best is about what we believe, what we live for and what we are willing to die for.

American patriotism is about individual liberty, the land of the free and the home of the brave. It's about individual worth and dignity. It’s decidedly not about white supremacy, a recent revisionist idea masquerading as history.

American patriotism is about lex rex, “the law is king,” not rex lex, “the king is law.” No king, no president, no dictator or regime, no political entity is of greater eternal value than the single person—free to think, free to worship, free to work and own the fruits of one's labor, free to pursue opportunity. This is the national vision that gave meaning and dynamism to the first two hundred years of this nation's history.

America’s ideals are currently being trampled by a set of agitators variously motivated by legitimate concerns about racial justice, along with considerable illegitimate concerns for greed, control, power, class or race warfare, Marxism, Leftist ideology, hate.

Yet these ideals are precious concepts. They are what God intended human life to be. They are worthy of patriotism.

I sincerely hope that a new interest and support for American ideals will develop. I think they are as close to timeless as humanly constructed political philosophy can get. They work, and they have worked, with fits and spurts and improvements, for more than two centuries. We the people are imperfect. We have a checkered history, but we the people have moved toward ever greater applications of our founding, exceptional ideals, for all people of all races, ethnicities, and more.

I hope American patriotism is not dead. Indeed, to paraphrase Mark Twain, I hope the death of American patriotism is “greatly exaggerated.”

Page 1 of 2

The Unique American Experience and Christianity

Responsible Christian Patriotism

Memorial Day Reflections

Patriotism In A Less Patriotic Age

The American Flag: Patriotism and Protest

Are We Witnessing the Death of American Patriotism?