Mark Shea wrote: Unconditional love for one’s country does not mean approving everything its government does, but loving your country in obedience to God. When your country disobeys God, love of country means calling it to repent, not approving its sin. The prophets did this--and paid with their lives. But the prophets were great patriots. So was Jesus when He denounced Jerusalem for killing the prophets, stoning those sent to her, and refusing to accept His message (Matthew 23). He was deeply patriotic for Israel, because He was first a patriot of the kingdom of heaven. In short, he was a patriot, not a nationalist. What’s the difference? Here lies the gulf between love and pride, the difference between worshiping God and an idol. Idolatry occurs the instant we put a creature before the Creator, and make of it a false god. And that is what nationalism does. We must not treat our beloved flag like a Golden Calf.

Third in my ongoing series of reflections inspired by Disorientation: How to Go to College Without Losing Your Mind is this passage from Mr Mark Shea's essay on Americanism. There is certainly a contrast between patriotism and nationalism, between love of one's country under God and love of one's country instead of God. However, as with individuals, so with country: to love means to seek the highest good, which for a person is union with God, and for a country it is obedience to Him.

The duties of love include, among other things, the spiritual works of mercy. With regard to a nation--that is, the nation's leaders and her people--the most important of these works are quite probably instructing the ignorant and admonishing sinners. Indeed, as Catholics we are called to be prophets, the first duty of which is to be watchmen against sin (see Ezechiel 33:7-9):

Ezechiel wrote: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. If I tell the wicked man that he shall surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his way, he (the wicked man) shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked man, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.

It is therefore our duty to call the nations to repent of their wrongdoings, and to warn against their sins. A nation may be guilty of sins to the extent that its leaders are, or that its people are. Nazi Germany was guilty of the holocaust, our own country was guilty of slavery. Nazi Germany is no more, but the German people have largely repented of the first holocaust; we have repented of slavery. Both countries are guilty of joining a host of others in the widespread acceptance of abortion and pornography (to name just two widespread sins), acceptance to the extent of enshrining these as basic rights (in some cases), often with very few restrictions.

To the extent that our country has done these things, it has also turned away from God. If we are true to our belief as Christians, if we really believe that God is the supreme, highest, and perfect Good, then this sin, the apostasy, this rejection of God by our nations should bring us consternation and sorrow. If we really love our country, then it is not judgmentalism which causes us to speak out against these sins, but rather our patriotism. It is our patriotism which desires that the souls of our fellow citizens be brought to repentance, to call on God's mercy for their sins. As patriots we are called to love our country, but a part of that love means that we must warn an ignorant or stubborn people against their sins.

For the Nationalist, it is "my country, never wrong," but the patriot loves his country "whether right or wrong." The Catholic patriot knows, moreover, that his country will never be fully right, that it will always be at least a little wrong. He knows this, and speaks against these wrongs, but he loves his country nonetheless for it. He knows that

Quote: Worse than a misguided patriotism is a misplaced love of one's country. These are the people who love their country "right or wrong" because they refuse to acknowledge that it is ever wrong. These people often begin as patriots, loving those things that their country represents, or honors, or protects. But this love for their country is often taken to the extremes of loving it even when it ceases to honor these things. They are no longer patriots, but rather nationalists. These nationalists will often go so far as to substitute their country and civilization for the transcendent God. Thus, when the country ceases to honor or protect these permanent things, the nationalists will honor these things less as well. And when the country becomes opposed to these things, the nationalists will follow it in its oppression. This is one way in which totalitarianism may arise.

We recognize, as Christians, that there is no other god than the LORD, and that no national is perfect, just as no man is perfect. For nations are in the end made up of men, that is, of sinners. It should come as no shock to us that nations--including our own--will err in their collective judgments, choosing some evils while at times rejecting that which is good. As Christians we cannot follow our country in it rejection of the good or its embrace of evil, we cannot give into the temptation to become nationalists. Rather, we must be patriots and prophets

Just as the prophet's love of men leads him to warn them against their sins, the patriot's love of his country leads him to try to improve it. As Christians, we recognize that this improvement has a moral dimension, and a spiritual dimension, which are more important than the military-socio-economics dimensions. We also must recognize, with Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman that "Our first duty is towards our Lord and His Church, and our second towards the earthly sovereign."

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Originally posted on my Equus nom Veritas blog.

Tags: Culture Quotes Religion

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