When my wife and I decided to attend the No Kings rally in Reading last month, she suggested we bring an American flag and hold it up for the people passing by to see. Why? Because we are tired of our flag being hijacked. This 4th of July, as we sat watching the beautiful fireworks all around us, I thought a lot about what it means to be a patriot, and while I can’t define this for everyone, I think it matters a lot that we are patriotic. I thought back to the insurrection, when traitors carried the American flag along with Confederate and Nazi flags, as if those evil acts against humanity had anything to do with American idealism. Some of those traitors – the violent ones, not the peaceful protestors – were carrying Bibles and signs that had crosses on them; they betrayed the faith I practice.
Patriots love their country, but they do so out of caring for others. The church is not a building – it is the people; the same goes for a country. We have boundaries, sure, but those boundaries have changed over the years. America has always been about diversity; if you live here, your ancestors were either Native Americans, enslaved people, or immigrants. It takes strength to be a real patriot, the kind of strength that wants laws for everyone, not just people like us. The strength that respects all people, regardless of race, religion, sex, gender or orientation. It is the coward who works towards the opposite; the Nazis were cowards, afraid of anyone who didn’t fit into their warped Aryan fantasy.
Patriots don’t sign flags – patriots don’t take pictures in their office holding a baseball bat as a weapon. Patriots don’t round up people of color who they “suspect” are in this country without documentation. Patriots don’t give the order to take those people by force when they have done nothing wrong (it’s called due process). Patriots have secure borders with well thought out processes for people fleeing oppression to join them in our quest for democracy. Patriots embrace difference rather than reject it. I am a patriot, even though I never made the sacrifice of serving in the armed forces. Flying a flag on my porch doesn’t make me a patriot, defending the Constitution does. Are you a patriot?
Prayer- Holy God, may our love of country be pure, and our love of You and each other be broad. Amen.