Reclaiming Patriotism

It's not about taking America back

Moving toward an inclusive future.

Voice of the day (Sojourners) In Beloved Community, radically inclusive and resilient love is the norm. It is a community in which we are constantly seeking to build and restore right relationships. - Adam Russell Taylor, A More Perfect Union (2021) I remember a debate we had in college. It was about the Vietnam War. Was it a test of our patriotism to blindly accept the justification for the war? If I was opposed to the war because of racism toward Asians and African Americans. was I unpatriotic? Or was I the patriotic one who believed in the ideals expressed at our founding, that all of us are created equal. Dr. King had expressed his opposition to the war just a few years earlier. "On 4 April 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his seminal speech at Riverside Church condemning the Vietnam War. Declaring “my conscience leaves me no other choice,” King described the war’s deleterious effects on both America’s poor and Vietnamese peasants and insisted that it was morally imperative for the United States to take radical steps to halt the war through nonviolent means." The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute This issue of defining patriotism has come up again during the Trump administration and the months that followed. Communities and common interests lead to progress and hope for the future. It's a really radical concept for whose who believe in the lone wolf approach. Teddy Roosevelt used to talk about rugged individualism, but then became a leading proponent of progressivism. The four major goals of the progressives were to promote the ideas of morality, economic reform , efficiency and social welfare. This country became stronger in times of need because we were able to work together, not alone. For more on Adam Russell Taylor's essay on radical love's rebuilding our country see his article, Is Redemptive Patriotism Possible? “Patriotism comes in many forms. Its most destructive, often nationalistic forms erode the very foundation upon which the Beloved Community is built and suffocate efforts to form a more perfect union. Redeeming patriotism requires reframing our love for the best of America’s ideals and aspirations. It requires understanding that the right to critique America is part of the brilliance of America. … Redeeming patriotism requires greater willingness to have courageous and civil conversations about the very ideals that make us love America. It refuses pointless arguments over who loves America more. As a result, redeeming patriotism represents a vital part of creating the atmosphere in which a more perfect union and the Beloved Community can breathe.” Taylor “REDEEMING PATRIOTISM REQUIRES REFRAMING OUR LOVE FOR THE BEST OF AMERICA’S IDEALS AND ASPIRATIONS.” —ADAM RUSSELL TAYLOR IN A MORE PERFECT UNION