WHAT DOES PATRIOTISM MEAN TO YOU?
RE:
https://foundationofpatriotism.org/w...mean-to-you-2/
Patriotism is a word that gets tossed around a lot in this country. But, do we ever take the time to stop and consider what it means?
We really need to.
Some Americans would say that patriotism is no longer important. If it’s not, then what has replaced it? To explore that, we need to begin my looking at some things that might help us further define patriotism.
Patriotism has been defined as “love of country”, but for some, that definition doesn’t fully cover the scope of what patriotism means. It’s certainly true that a person can love his country and disagree with some of the decisions that country makes. It’s only in the most extreme forms of government where agreement is mandatory. In fact, some patriots have argued that disagreeing with the leaders of your country is what makes you patriotic in the first place. The point here goes to the idea that those individuals who are willing to think and possibly act outside the accepted norms of a country are the ones that are willing to help define what makes the most sense for that country.
Yet another view on the subject takes the perspective that there is no simple definition of the patriotism. Some thought leaders have suggested that patriotism is defined by a set of values rather than a single idea. Defining patriotism through values such as honesty, truth, goodness, respect, sacrifice, etc. may be an excellent starting place for parents to begin raising strong Americans. Other countries are certainly working hard to recruit our young away from these values in order to do harm to Americans. What exactly is our defense?
While it’s true that defining patriotism with values is a subjective undertaking, it’s a valid starting point. For example, what is truth to one person may not necessarily be so for someone else, but this is precisely where an individual enters a continuum. It can be said that truth is more of a journey than a destination and that is more important to begin that journey than to actually arrive. Regardless, defining patriotism through a set of consistent values gives all Americans a starting point for moving in the same direction rather than arguing semantics.
How do you define patriotism? What’s important to you about being an American? We’d love to hear from you on our Facebook page. Whether you have a definition of patriotism already in your mind, or you’re using this page to help you come to terms with the definition of patriotism, it’s the journey that matters most.