something hitting everybody...

on expressions of patriotism...

...and why each side sees the other's form of expression as ANTI-American...

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Patriotism, Conservative and Liberal:

Watching Obama's inaugural address reminded me of an essay written by Peter Beinart in Time magazine last summer about conservative and liberal conceptions of patriotism. I thought he really nailed the key difference in how right and left tend to think about patriotism. For far too many on the right, patriotism is about mere symbols, about having a flag pin on your lapel and getting weepy eyed when the national anthem plays.

This is why, for example, one of the primary Republican attacks on Michael Dukakis in 1988 was that he vetoed a bill requiring teachers to lead students in saying the pledge of allegiance. For much of the right, patriotism is mostly about ostentatious displays of emotionalism and loyalty - and the ability to exploit such emotionalism for political gain. But Obama presented a very different version of patriotism in his inaugural speech.

The essay itself is, as one would expect, somewhat generalized on applying labels to behaviours, but it is useful for helping one's introspection of their own actions towards America and their own ways of expression "patriotism". In these distinctions, I find myself clearly "liberal", but really what is labeled liberal is more the libertarian side of liberal, and many self-proclaimed conservatives might also see themselves in the "liberal" camp as the essay described it because their libertarian attitudes, as codified in the Bill of Rights, trump their anti-liberal (in the socialism sense) attitudes.

But for any expression of loyalty to a community, how do you fit?  This includes your church and religion, your loyalty to your employer, to your friends and the community that might join them (say, the renaissance festival), or your country?

What is more important, the symbol today, or the attitude that inspired and created the symbol years or centuries ago.  Which will you follow when the two diverge?

When the Flag represents in action something different than what you thought it should represent in intent, which will you follow?

When the Cross represents in action something different than what you thought it should represent in intent, which will you follow?

I know my answer...