Yes, Patriotism Matters!

As we celebrate the 232nd birthday of America, I continue to be amazed that so many citizens are unpatriotic and/or think we do not live in the greatest nation on Earth. During my years in public education (1965 to 2002 --on all levels, including community college), I saw love for country and patriotism decline to the point that many "citizens" today seem to have hatred for their own country. It has become chic for the "sophisticated" to dislike their own country. Does that hatred or dislike originate from academia, parents, the deterioration of American values and culture, the entertainment industry, the media, other influences, or a combination of all of these?

Ben Shapiro said in a Townhall.com (July 2, 2008) article, "Why America is the Greatest Country on Earth," that "The typical liberal talking point states that patriotism is jingoism because America's founding principles are so much claptrap--modern values trump those old-fashioned ideas." I have heard that kind of thinking over and over myself as I have interacted with liberals in and out of education. Time-tested American values such as free enterprise, free elections, freedom of speech and religion, traditional moral values, and defending America are hardly values to so easily dismiss, yet many citizens do.

My mother instilled in me love of country and the greatness of America, but so did my teachers, especially history teachers, from elementary school through college. How times have changed. Love of country, patriotism, and the greatness of America are no longer taught in most schools based on my teaching experience. My mother attended public schools in Texas until she was sixteen, so she also had a love for Texas and its history. I feel fortunate now to have all my grandchildren in the Texas public schools where the day begins with a "moment of silence," where the words "under God" are still said in the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag, and where students say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Texas flag which also contains the words "under God." Those things alone are not likely to instill love of country or state, but it is a vast improvement over what students on the West Coast (where I taught for all but 12 of my teaching years) are getting since the 9th Circuit Court ruled "under God" was unconstitutional. Many West Coast schools do not even require students to recite the Pledge. Other than Texas, I am not aware of any state that has a pledge to their state flag, let alone requires students to recite it daily.

So many citizens today characterize those who have a love for their country and American values as right-wing nuts, rednecks, or some other "put-down" term. So be it. However, this is a time of war, and has been since the first attack on us from Islamic terrorists in the 1980s, although many citizens wish to bury their heads in the sand about that. Patriotism and support of our troops are still necessary. It is our troops, past and present, who have always guaranteed our freedom. The mainstream media might want you to think they are responsible, but that is simply laughable.

Thomas Sowell in a July 2, 2008 article entitled "Does Patriotism Matter?" says patriotism matters, and I agree. In the article, he says that after World War I, and during the 20 plus years prior to World War II, patriotism was discouraged in France, especially in the schools. "Did it matter? France, when pacifism and internationalism were strongest, became a classic example of how much it can matter. During World War I, France fought on against the German invaders for four long years despite having more of its soldiers killed than all the American soldiers killed in all the wars in the history of the United States put together. But during World War II, France collapsed after just six weeks of fighting and surrendered to Nazi Germany." Leading Frenchmen, "blamed a lack of national will or general moral decay for the sudden and humiliating collapse of France in 1940." This is the legacy, and only one of them, of demeaning patriotism.

There is a lesson for Americans in this bit of French history. We as a country need to return to our roots--love of country, love of our traditional American values and culture, honoring our founders who gave us this great country, and honoring the past and present troops who guarantee our freedom.

Copyright 2008 by Don Emerson