humanlifereview.com
2024-07-12
Patriotism is a form of gratitude to God for the blessing of living in the land of our birth, or in the land that is our adopted home. We recognize that God has placed us in a particular place and calls us to contribute to the well-being of our society. This necessarily involves our personal efforts to foster justice and social harmony, working with our neighbors for the common good. Life is not lived in isolation, either geographically or historically. We form part of a social body that shares an appreciation for the good things we have received from God through the generations that have gone before us. We are the inheritors of laws, customs, and a shared understanding of what is true, good and beautiful in life. We are also inheritors of certain ways of acting and thinking that need to be changed because they are unjust and harmful. Not everything that has been handed down in a society is true, good and beautiful. Some things are false, evil and ugly.
True patriotism is not blind to the failings of one's country. Patriots recognize that not everything in a country's history, or in its present reality, is good. Reform is not a denial of patriotism, but rather its fulfillment. We measure our love for our country by the highest standard of love, which is God's truth and justice. When either of these is lacking, change is required.