What is a Patriot?

What is a Patriot?

By Jim Stanley

A patriot is someone who is unapologetically proud of the good his country does, inside and outside its borders. A patriot doesn't back down and politely defer so as not to offend the sensibilities of those from other countries. He waves his flag reverently and enthusiastically.

A patriot is someone who is ruthlessly honest about the faults and failings of his country. He owns his country's bad history as relentlessly as he celebrates his country's good history. He has the courage not to gloss over his country's crimes. More, he has the wisdom to plead and fight to keep her from revisiting those crimes again and again.

A patriot is someone who is willing to risk life and limb for his country and his his countrymen. When his country is attacked, he asks where and how he can best serve his nation. And he does it, even if he is afraid. When his countrymen are in danger, he seeks to rescue them or facilitate their rescue. And when they suffer, he suffers with them and seeks to alleviate their pain.

A patriot loves his country too much not to criticize its government, seek justice for its citizens and fight to return his country to a steadfast belief in the documents upon which she was founded.

A patriot may well believe his is the greatest nation on the face of the earth. Perhaps the greatest in the history of the world. But he loves his country too much to be blind to her faults. He may fear "rocking the boat", but he rocks it anyway when it is called for.

A patriot knows his country is not its President. It is not its elected representatives or judges. It is not any political party, ethnic group, religion or organization. He knows his country is its people, past and present, even those he doesn't much like or agree with. And he knows his country is an idea that brought those people together around a common dream.

A patriot may put his hand over his heart during the pledge of allegiance or national anthem. Or he may not. He knows his patriotism can never be measured by ritualistic gestures, anymore than the devotion of a Christian can be measured by whether or not they remember to genuflect or make the sign of the cross.

A patriot always supports the men and women of the Armed Forces. He is equally obligated to vigorously question, challenge and oppose their commanders -- particularly their Commander in Chief -- when such leaders put the Armed Forces at unecessary risk fighting immoral wars.

A patriot can point the rest of the world to what his country has done in difficult circumstances, and encourage them to follow suit. But he is not blind to the good other countries have done, also. And he has the integrity to urge his countrymen to follow those examples as well.

A patriot may or may not be a person who practices a religion. If he is Christian, then he has the honor and decency to obey the tenets of his own faith by "doing unto others as he would have done unto him". Hence, a patriot does not discriminate against those of other religions and those of no particular religion.

A patriot refuses to back down from what he truly believes is right. But he isn't a coward, either. He listens to other points of view, considers them and, when genuinely convicted that he may be wrong, he has the courage to admit it.

This is my summation of what makes a patriot. When I am tempted to define a patriot as "someone a lot like me" -- or when I am wont to regard someone very different from me as unpatriotic -- I should worry. It could mean I have a higher regard for party affiliation, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or ideology than I do for my country. And that could mean I am, at the end of the day, an anti-patriot.

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