Zack Exley, the organizing director of the populist MoveOn.org, challenges Americans to move past divisive patriotic rhetoric to something that can bring the country together: "Perhaps as old political categories such as left and right lose their relevance, we can aim for a new political unity based on a new kind of patriotism. Let's leave behind the hollow patriotism which is based on disdain for and fear of others. Instead, let's define a new patriotism -- one that expresses our unconditional love for America and lives up to our responsibility to our fellow Americans."
He also writes: "The solution is to reject false, jingoistic patriotism, and to embrace a patriotism based on the unconditional love of one's country. Note: that's unconditional love, not unconditional approval. Like a parent loves a child, or a child a parent, we love our country because it is our country. Period.
"Beware: This type of patriotism brings with it much more responsibility than the kind based on superficial, conditional love. Once you accept responsibility for your country in the way that a parent does for a child -- or a child for a parent -- then you're really committed. When your country misbehaves, you can't just roll your eyes as if you had nothing to do with it."
Previous Comments
- ID
- 77070
- Comment
By the way, you can get directly involved with MoveOn.org's grass-roots efforts simply by clicking the following link. Talk about desk chair activism: http://www.moveon.org/
- Author
- ladd
- Date
- 2003-07-05T12:19:08-06:00
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