Patriotism

Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk.

There was a man waving his country's flag, chanting wildly and proudly about how much he loved his country. He loudly sang the national anthem, boldly stated his support for his country's military personel, and stopped to shake the hands of the local preacher.

There was another man who did none of these things.

The first man was of the popular religion of his country. The second was of an unpopular religion, which had gained notoriety after certain events that need not be explained.

Both men were citizens of the country.

The first man caught glimps of the second man doing a prayer in the local park. Angered, he rushed towards him, demanding he stopped. the second man did not abide. Growing in anger, the first man took a stone and threw it at the second man's head, causing him to bleed. Yet the second man did not stop his prayers, and instead began a second prayer, his eyes in tears. The first man began to curse the second man, cursing his religion and calling him a disgrace to their country.

The second man had been praying a blessing for the first.

Which of these two is a true patriot?


















The second man is the true patriot. Symbols come and go, and you can loudly and arrogantly proclaim how much you love your country all you want. But when you start hating a minority, you start hating your country. Your country is not just the icons, the ideas, the government or the popular culture; it's the people that make the country. Everyone, be they jew or gentile, black man or white, capitalist or socialist, they make up the country.

A patriot loves his or her country. And I know sometimes it's hard to love someone who believes something you disagree with. But that is never an excuse to marginalize that person, or that group. Just because they believe something you disagree with is no reason to applaud as the government arrests them and throws them away in jail for the crime of dissent; just because they are different from you is no reason to turn a blind eye as the rest of society shuns these people, scapegoats them and treats them like dirt. When a country has a population that voluntarily ostracizes minorities, or tolerates groups that support the alienation of fellow citizens, then those peoples become trash, and the country itself becomes trash.

Hate does not aggrandize a country, calling for the jailing of a minority just because they are not like the majority does not glorify a country.

Next time you see a man or a woman proudly walking in the streets, bearing the flag of your country, boldly proclaiming using the same tongue to love the country but hate some group within your country, rest assured he or she is no patriot. Don't swallow their lies.