You wrote:
“The fundamental thing to learn is gratitude to God, who put us where we are and called us to love where we are.”

Thus us powerful stuff and so true.

However “My country – right or wrong” may not be true patriotism. Also claiming people from one part of a country and one set of views are patriotic and those who disagree are not is not true patriotism. In a democracy to blindly follow the leader is not true love of country.

Patriotism may lead to worship of the State. There are problems.

It is not for nothing that Samuel Johnson claimed “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”. However, Boswell, Johnson’s biographer, assures us that Johnson was not indicting patriotism in general, only false patriotism.

Better than Calhoun, in my opinion, is William Blackstone’s “protection and subjection are reciprocal.” As noted in the Declaration of Independence, when the government of Great Britain removed us from its protection, we were in turn released from the duty of allegiance to the Mother Country.

I think it is safe to say that in 1776 the Patriots gave up on being patriotic Englishmen. Our forefathers and foremothers transferred their feelings of civic affection to another entity, i.e. the new USA.

Likewise today, or rather worse than anything perpetrated by George III, the government does little or nothing to protect us from a host of moral dangers. Indeed it aids and abets in inflicting abortion, sodomy, warmongering, and irreligion upon us and upon our children. In such a circumstance the issue of what patriotism means is called into question.

For these reasons I do appreciate that your column raises such a timely topic.

Since nothing I said had anything to do with “super-patriotism” or unquestioning jingoism or turning a blind eye to evil, I’m not sure what you are driving at.

I would suggest you wait for me to finish the series before you immediately assume my point is “My country, right or wrong!” In fact, I agree with Chesterton who says that saying is as foolish as “My mother, drunk or sober!”

I think a citizen who works to change his/her country for the better exhibits more worthwhile patriotism than the flag waving, bumper sticker, “God bless America” superpatriot.

In reality a Christian today has good reason to feel repugnance when he looks at the country’s apostate condition, especially when he or she has lived here long enough to contrast the USA today with America Beautiful as she existed prior to the postmodernist era. I would date transmutation of the United States from God’s friend to His foe from about the time of the assassination of JFK.

To effect a turnabout, i.e. to put the country back into allegiance with God, is the high calling of genuine patriotism.

Do you think that the late and eloquent Mr. Douglass would not have something to say of his fellow men if he were to see how welfare has been allowed to ruin the connections of the black families more than slavery even hoped to have done. Do you think he would’t be outraged at the number of chldren concieved out of wedlock – 80% or something like that. How abortion has killed more black children than there were slaves?

I have adopted sons that multi-ethnic – I check the other box on race questions and write in Human. For that is how I see things – we are humans and we don’t look the same. I don’t worry about it – I want to speak more languages.

But hey, our nation has a lot of sins – so do each of us. I don’t want to list my online, though.

D

I am not a racist – I have adopted love two boys that are not the same skin tone as me. I sign most forms for race By checking “other” and then writing in human.

Many educational forms won’t let me list the mulitple ethnicities of my sons on their forms and that is what started by HUMAN campaign.

Nit picking has it’s purpose – just go with the examples sometimes. We don’t all have to write like the late, great, JPII.

“In thinking of America I sometimes find myself admiring her bright blue sky, her grand old woods, her fertile fields, her beautiful rivers, her mighty lakes and star crowned mountains. But my rapture is soon checked when I remember that all is cursed with the infernal spirit of slaveholding and wrong, when I remember that with the waters of her noblest rivers the tears of my brethren are born to the ocean disregarded and forgotten, that her most fertile fields drink daily of the warm blood of my outraged sisters….”