Don’t be Afraid of Patriotism Part One: What Is Patriotism?

Patriotic expression is not in style right now. A 2023 National Opinion Research Center Poll (NORC) found only 38% of Americans understand patriotism to be important, down from 70% when the question was last asked in 1998.^[1] Amongst those surveyed, Americans under the age of thirty scored lowest, with only 23% showing any deference for patriotism. Currently, the tide seems to be out. The New York Times, America’s leading newspaper, published an op-ed as recently as 2020 arguing that there exists in the country a repugnant and blind patriotism.^[2] Others claim a “My country, right or wrong” mentality that has historically, since America’s founding, whitewashed the many sins of the nation, especially those pertaining to racial injustice.^[3] When discussing patriotism with listeners on “The Argument,” a Times political podcast that ran through 2022, respondents shared, “I believe that patriotism is one of the great evils in the world,” and “The flag and patriotism has now been associated with the far-right nationalists. And it makes me feel as if I can’t represent it the way that I’d like to.”^[4]  For these people, patriotism likely connoted support of Donald Trump and insensitivity towards race or social justice. Indeed, many Americans now believe that expressing love for country can is chauvinistic or fascist. Many today seem to agree with Samuel Johnson’s quip, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”^[5]

Patriotism and Christianity

For Christians, a conscientious discussion on patriotism must operate on an even higher plane of moral analysis. Questions pertaining to spiritual identity and witness must be considered, such as, “Does Scripture permit patriotism?”, “Is patriotism idolatry?”, and “Does it promote or hinder the gospel?” The answers supplied will inform both personal and corporate forms of patriotic expression. Many Christians have already settled the issue positively: patriotic expression is permissible and good.^[6] Yet many Christians have decided the opposite. Some reject patriotism because of its (new) negative cultural connotations, while others see Scripture’s admonition not to love the “present world” (1 John 2:15) as reason enough to avoid patriotism entirely.^[7] All this to say, a fresh take on patriotism, its grounds, uses, and dangers, is in order for the church. A biblically, historically, and religiously informed patriotism is sober-minded and does not ignore the failures of the nation or its many achievements. My purpose is to convince Christians that such patriotic expression is good, not bad. I’ll aim to accomplish this by (1) defending a historically informed definition of the word “patriotism,” (2) analyzing whether or not Scripture permits a love of country, and if it does, what qualifications are set forth by Scripture, and lastly, (3) concluding by presenting the virtues and dangers of patriotic expressions for Christians today.

What is Patriotism?

The question seems easy enough to answer: it’s that thing you do when you wave the flag or sing the national anthem. The word “patriotism” is used everywhere. But for all its fame, the term is rarely defined. “Love of country” is perhaps the best colloquial definition—but what exactly does someone mean when they say, “I love my country”? The statement can be ambiguous.

The word “patriot” has its roots in the Greek word patrios, meaning, “of one’s fathers.”^[8] It communicates the idea of a homeland, the “geographical area associated with one’s familial connections and personal life.”^[9] The Romans used the word to celebrate individuals willing to die for king and country.^[10] Robert Jenson says, “The patriot is one who stands in the gate of the beleaguered city or at the border of the threatened empire, finding it sweet to die rather than be the one to admit the enemy.”^[11] This historical notion of patriotism is alive and well in the American tradition too. Consider Memorial Day, a national holiday focusing on honoring the dead and the “spirit of sacrifice.”^[12] Other national holidays and songs do the same.^[13] As a result, many modern definitions of patriotism focus on sacrifice as a central component. For example, historian John D. Wilsey defines patriotism as a “sacrificial devotion and love for the national community.”^[14] 

But people from all nations, have some kind of love for their country. What is distinct about American patriotism? What do we love (and should we love) about America? According historian Wilfred M. McClay, patriotic love is tethered to (1) an historical context and (2) a conglomeration of universal ideals.^[15] Like a penny, the object of patriotic love has two sides, one is idealistic and the other historical. When we consider America’s unique ideals and history, we find that American patriotism may be defined as a love of country, a love of both the universal ideals posited in America’s creeds, as well as the history of the American people and the land they inhabit. To better understand this definition, we need to explore both the idealistic and historical aspects of American patriotism.

The Idealistic Aspect of Patriotism

An idealistic notion of patriotism is just what it sounds like: the belief that what makes someone American is their embrace of American ideals.^[16] Primarily, “American ideals” means the universal rights and principles posited in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Both documents communicate a set of political ideals to which the American people aspire. The Declaration states, “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”^[17] Likewise, the Constitution provides a political framework for the purpose of establishing an idealistic society marked by justice, self-restraint, safety, social mobility, and the “Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”^[18] Over the course of history, Americans have enshrined these principles in speech, song, and art, forming a canon of literature that promotes national solidarity and justice. Take for example an excerpt from Martin Luther King Junior’s Address at the March on Washington: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed”—a clear reference to the Declaration.^[19]  Dr. King’s speech is grounded on the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, which serves as the grounds for his “dream” that the God-endowed dignity and equality of black Americans would be fully realized. Tragically, the ideals trumpeted in America’s creeds have often been underrealized, even grossly suppressed. Yet they remain instantiated in this nation’s founding documents. And from those documents, the promise of America’s ideals springs anew, ready to be appropriated into every system, speech, and geographical territory in the Union. This is what makes idealistic notions of patriotic expression so powerful. It is a love of country focused on the ideas promulgated by the American creeds. A proper patriotism will champion these idealistic notions in its expression, recognizing the exceptional nature of American identity, the diversity of the American project, and the propensity for good that the American creeds herald for all people.^[20]

Historical Notions of Patriotism

It would be a mistake, however, to reduce patriotism merely to the idealistic notions mentioned above. There is more to a love of country than just the conglomeration of abstract virtues. America is a place. It is a homeland, with a real history and geography. Historical notions of patriotism call upon this shared space and story. Because the historical dimensions of patriotism are more romantic, they are less articulated in academia than idealistic notions.^[21] But the lack of representation in scholarly work is not to suggest that they are less powerful or popular. Historical notions of patriotism focus on the shared symbols, figures, myths, and traditions belonging to American history. They are the connection a people feel to their past, their traditions, and those who have gone before them in triumph and sacrifice. Symbols refers to things like the U.S. flag, the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, Civil War monuments, the USS Arizona Memorial, the One World Trade Center, and the Arlington National Cemetery, with its Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal Flame.^[22] The list could go on indefinitely. These symbols evoke national memories, good and bad, shared and hallowed by the American people, for better or worse. Figures are national heroes, such as Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. Some were martyred public figures; others served as soldiers or held civil office. Shared myths refer to historical stories that have become our lore, such as George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware or the defense of the Alamo. And traditions, perhaps the most poignant of historical patriotic notions, are those national customs that Americans still practice today: inaugurations, state funerals, national holidays like Thanksgiving or Independence day, and so on. Like memories shared by a large family, historical notions of patriotism provide cohesion to a pluralistic society, binding citizens together in a shared past and an anticipated future informed by that past.^[23]

The American canon is replete with historical patriotic references too. Take for example Lincoln’s first inaugural address: “The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union.”^[24] Lincoln appeals to historical and geographical references—battlefields, graves, and hearthstones—as reason for continued national unity.^[25] His description of America’s “broad land” has not been lost in patriotic songs either. Take for instance Francis Scott Key’s “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814), Samuel Francis Smith’s “America: My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (1831), Katharine Lee Bates’s “America, the Beautiful” (1893), Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” (1938), and Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” (1984). These songs celebrate the homeland, its beauty, as well as the symbols that are often most evocative of liberty and justice. Historical notions like these often give way to the most fervent of patriotic displays and national regalia. Perhaps it is because historical notions of patriotic love are deeply rooted in the idea of what constitutes “home” for someone. In a very real sense, patriotism of this sort feeds and fills the universal human condition of wanting to belong. Considering this, McClay observes, “among our deepest longings is the desire to belong, and it is an illusion to believe that we can sustain a stable identity in isolation, living apart from the eyes and ears and words of others.”^[26] A working knowledge and appreciation for a particular history and place is thus an important aspect of patriotism proper. 

A word of warning must be given here. These two aspects, idealistic and historical notions, are peculiar in that they compete. They are dualistic, and necessarily so. For without one, the other becomes overbalanced, rigid, and exclusionary. Without idealistic notions, a love for homeland morphs into a prejudiced nationalism.^[27] Without due recognition and honor of America’s sacred myths and geographical spaces, patriotism becomes torpid intellectualism—arbitrary, cold, and condescending; a virtue signaling of sorts in which liberty and rights destroy tradition and culture. Both are necessary. McClay observes of this tension, “There is a vital and living tension in the makeup of American patriotism, a tension between its universalizing ideals, with their rationalist and contractual tendencies, and its particularizing sentiments, with their emphasis upon memory, history, tradition, culture, and the land.”^[28] The conscientious patriot will be careful to stress both aspects equally. 

So far, I’ve argued for an historically informed definition of patriotism, one that pays respect to the idealistic, historical, and geographical significances embodied in America and her people. This definition is friendly to all races, religions, and backgrounds. It provides a social fabric—a civil religion of sorts—promoting the American virtue, E pluribus unum (out of many one). Patriotism advances national cohesion. Consequently, peace and compromise—two essentials for the viability of a Republic such as ours—are more easily realized when we are patriotic. Therefore, patriotism both virtuous and necessary if the American experiment is to continue on from one generation to another. An aversion towards patriotism, and a withdrawal from its celebratory and somber expressions, will only promote the increased colonization of political ideologies and factions sadly observed today. Americans must learn to lock arms with their fellow citizens under broad banners of creedal ideals, shared memories, and a reverence of place. But before we set off our fireworks, Christians should ask:

What does the Bible Say?^[29]

Does Scripture allow us to be patriotic? Or does patriotism conflict with our citizenship in heaven? We now turn to these issues.

A Hierarchy of Loves in the Bible

In Galatians 6:10, Paul writes, “Let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (emphasis mine). Here we see that there can exist a special kind of love reserved for a special kind of people. In context, this exhortation is addressed to believers of a local church, not the citizenry of the United States. Yet it does imply that it is appropriate for believers to have a particular affection for particular individuals. I mention this text only to demonstrate that there exists a type of “love,” realized in the form of special and actionable care, that is not per se the sin of partiality. This is important to recognize, since patriotism is a particular love for a particular thing.

In 1 Timothy 5:8, Paul again uses the word “especially,” this time in reference to a believer’s family: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (emphasis added). A peculiar love for kin is not only permissible but obligatory for a Christian. Paul himself has a special affection for his kin, even those who are unbelievers. Regarding his Jewish brothers, he states: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3). Could Paul’s affection for his brothers have anything to do with the culture and tradition he had been enmeshed with since adolescence? It is hard to imagine that this is not so.

All three of these texts—Galatians 6:10, 1 Timothy 5:8, and Romans 9:3—seem to, at varying levels, permit and promote a special type of love for a distinct people and place.^[30] Such tendencies are natural and normative for believers. In line with this statement, one theologian comments, “Worship of God must exclude all other forms of worship, but worship of God is not necessarily in conflict with other forms of love.”^[31] A proper worship of God naturally leads to a love of other things, primarily, people.^[32] Of course, the great commandment sums this up: love God with all oneself, and love others as one loves oneself (Matt. 22:37–40). This extends naturally to the institutions and communities we know so well too, all of which are constituted by image bearers. To love a nation is, to a greater or lesser degree, to love the citizenry of that nation. It is the same for one’s hometown. Peculiar loves invade our hearts like waves breaking on a sandy shore. And at the center of our special love for institutions, ideals, and geographical places are people. But this is not all Scripture has to say.

A Peculiar Love in the Bible

Paul’s letter to the Philippians provides further clarity on what a healthy and unhealthy love of country might look like. For context, the Macedonian city of Philippi had been awarded ius italicum (Italian law) by the Roman Empire, a status which designated Philippi as a Roman Colony, giving the inhabitants full-fledged Roman citizenship.^[33] Citizenship in the empire was a revered and celebrated status, a status that Paul used to his advantage on multiple occasions (Acts 16:37–38; 22:25–29).^[34] To the church, Paul writes, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ . . . ” (Phil. 1:27).^[35] The Greek verb carrying the command, politeuesthe—translated “let your manner of life” in the ESV—invokes the duties and privileges of citizenship.^[36] Paul’s use of this rare verb^[37] would have undoubtedly reminded the Philippians of their prized Roman citizenship.^[38] By doing so, Paul undergirds the heavenly reality, to which the Philippians belong, with a here-and-now weight. He doesn’t want his hearers to check out of their communities and the societies in which they live. Though earthly communities and societies are temporal, they are still meaningful.^[39] This text thus has a straightforward application for American Christians: we may not adopt simply dismiss patriotism due to its worldly (temporal) tenure. This, however, is not Paul’s ultimate aim in writing verse twenty-seven.

A second reading of Philippians 1:27 with respect to the context, will reveal that Paul’s chief concern is that the Philippian Christians live in holy unity. Just as they are prized citizens of the Roman Empire, they are chosen citizens of the Kingdom of God. In the same verse, earthly realities and heavenly realities clash. Each reality comes with certain responsibilities. Concerning the earthly one, obedience to the state, and for the heavenly one, obedience to the Word. This dual-citizenship status extends to every Christian that has ever lived. While Christians may not share the same earthly citizenship, all Christians share the same heavenly citizenship. And our heavenly citizenship ought to radically affect the way in which we view the state. While our earthly polis (city) is not to be disregarded, ultimate hope is not to be placed in the emperor; rather, the heavenly kingdom is to function as our ultimate source of hope (cf. Eph 2:19; Heb 11:8–10; 14–16; 1 Pet 2:13–16). Scripture puts up a guardrail here: no nation can serve as a conduit to salvation or true happiness for the Christian. Only when Christ ushers in His eternal kingdom will God’s plan of redemption be consummated and our joy complete. Consequently, a Christian’s ultimate allegiance is to Christ, His Kingdom, and His causes (e.g., suffering). The Christian patriot will be careful to rehearse this truth continuously, especially amidst the celebratory pomp and parades that can so easily deceive us into believing that ultimate hope and allegiance is to be found in the state rather than Christ Himself.^[40]

The book of Philippians thus provides at least two guiding principles for Christian Americans considering patriotism: (1) patriotism cannot be dismissed merely because of its worldly associations, and (2) patriotic expression should never become ultimate for the Christian, whether in love, hope, or identity. In addition to these two points, the Bible seems to permit Christians to exercise a peculiar love of a country and its people. So, if patriotism is biblically permissible and nationally essential, how can a Christian practice it virtuously and avoid its dangers? Those are the subject of part two of this article—stay tuned!

*****

Endnotes

1. Aaron Zitner, “America Pulls Back From Values That Once Defined It, WSK-NORC Poll Finds,” Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2023.↑

2. Theodore R. Johnson, “The Challenge of Black Patriotism,” New York Times, November 18, 2020. ↑
3. Philip Gorski, American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion From the Puritans to The Present (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017), 207. ↑
4. “The Argument,” New York Times, February 23, 2022 ↑
5. Frank Bruni, “Donald Trump’s Sham Patriotism,” New York Times, July 23, 2016. ↑
6. See Denny Burk, “How a Christian Patriot Might Love His Wayward Country,” Denny Burk Blog, July 4, 2022; Kevin DeYoung, “Thank God for the Idea of America,” Gospel Coalition, accessed June 19, 2024; Wilfred M. McClay, “How to Think about Patriotism,” National Affairs 35 (Spring 2018). ↑
7. This is not to imply that Christians in this category believe patriotism is per se sinful. Instead, they may avoid the title altogether, as well as any overt displays of patriotic expression, due to America’s many sins and Scripture’s many warnings concerning the “things” of this present world. See Ameen Hudson, “Jesus Is Not Your American Patriot,” Gospel Coalition, accessed June 19, 2024; Russell Moore, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America (New York: Sentinel, 2023), 11, 117, 120, 136–138; Ryan Zhang, “How I Became a Subversive Patriot,” Gospel Coalition, accessed June 19, 2024. ↑
8. Walter Bauer, s.v. πατριος, in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, rev. and ed. Frederick W. Danker, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 788. ↑
9. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 788. ↑
10. Robert W. Jenson, “Is Patriotism a Virtue?” in God and Country: Diverse Perspectives on Christianity and Patriotism, ed. Michael G. Long and Tracy Wenger Sadd (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), 147–148. ↑
11. Jenson, “Is Patriotism a Virtue?”, 148. ↑
12. Robert N. Bellah, Beyond Belief: Essays on Religion in a Post-Traditional World (New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1970), 179. ↑
13. John D. Wilsey illustrates the high value of American sacrifice by summarizing a memorial speech given by Ronald Reagan: “For Reagan, nothing was more precious in the sight of America’s God than the death of his saints, namely, those who wore an American uniform.” John D. Wilsey, American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015), 151. Another example of this comes in Reagan’s farewell speech. He argued that patriotism is predicated on the promulgation of American stories, specifically those stories which best encapsulate sacrifice, honor, altruism and justice. He cites D-Day, Jimmy Doolittle, and American forces at war with Japan. Ronald Reagan, “Farewell Address, January 11, 1989” in A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love, ed. Caroline Kennedy (New York: Hyperion, 2013), 71. ↑
14. John D. Wilsey, American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion, 224–225. Similarly, Alyce M. McKenzie provides a myriad of popular definitions of patriotism, all entailing a notion of sacrifice; a zealous devotion for the common good of one’s country and its people. See Alyce M. McKenz, “Preaching Patriotism?” in God and Country: Diverse Perspectives on Christianity and Patriotism, ed. Michael G. Long and Tracy Wenger Sadd (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), 243. ↑
15. McClay offers a very concise definition of this by later defining patriotism as a “love of America and [a] love of her ideals.” See McClay, “How to Think about Patriotism,” National Affairs 35 (Spring 2018), 115. His fuller definition in the same article is “Patriotism, in the American context, is an intricate latticework of ideals, sentiments, and overlapping loyalties,” 107. ↑
16. Philip Gorski, answering this exact question, writes, “As a civic nation, premised on a certain set of political ideals, and that acceptance of these ideals was and is the only legitimate criterion of national belonging and civic rights.” See Philip Gorski, American Covenant, 221. ↑
17. “The Declaration of Independence, 1776” in The Patriot’s History Reader: Essential Documents for Every American, ed. Larry Schweikart, Et al. (New York, NY: Sentinel, 2011), 21. ↑
18. “The Constitution of the United States, 1787” in The Patriot’s History Reader, ed. Larry Schweikart, 56. ↑
19. King, Martin Luther Jr., “Address at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963” in A Patriot’s Handbook, ed. Caroline Kennedy, 323. ↑
20. For further reading on the exceptional nature of the American creeds and how they transcend ethnic and social backgrounds, see David Brooks, “The Uses of Patriotism,” The New York Times, September 16, 2016; Philip Gorski, American Covenant, 221; Wilfred M. McClay, “How to Think about Patriotism,” 108. ↑
21. McClay, “How to Think about Patriotism,” 110. This aspect of patriotism is “romantic” in that it focuses less on reason and more on the deep and visceral feelings humans wish to express. It is a philosophical movement brought about as a response to the Enlightenment movement, which focused on logic rather than feeling. Romantics appeal to nature and mystery to explain away the human experience and their relation to the divine. See John D. Wilsey, American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015), 176–182. ↑
22. Robert N. Bellah, Beyond Belief. ↑
23. E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Cultural Literacy, 99. ↑
24. Abraham Lincoln, “First Inaugural Address, March 4th, 1861” in A Patriot’s Handbook, ed. Caroline Kennedy, 156. ↑
25. Washington did the same thing sixty-five years earlier. In his 1796 farewell address, Washington mentioned the common historical experiences, triumphs, and sufferings that Americans of the late 18^th century had come to know, all cause for a “just pride of Patriotism.” See George Washington, “Farewell Address, September 19, 1796” in A Patriot’s Handbook, ed. Caroline Kennedy, 35. ↑
26. Wilfred M. McClay, “How to Think about Patriotism,” 106. ↑
27. There does not exist a broadly accepted definition of “nationalism.” The term is debated, however, this paper maintains a distinction between patriotism and nationalism. Sean F. Everton provides clarity on what exactly the term may mean by explaining, “When nationalism insists on aligning itself with a single cultural identity (e.g., ethnic, religious), it often holds up a snapshot of a particular moment of a nation’s history as the ideal picture of its identity. This leads some observers to argue that while identity politics is the politics of minority groups, nationalism is the identity politics of the majority tribe.” See Sean F. Everton. “American Civil Religion in the Era of Trump,” 17, n11. As Everton explains, a modern example of nationalism can be found in Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” However, as will later be discussed, I do not view MAGA as a form of prejudiced nationalism. Such labeling, as I will argue, fundamentally misunderstands what MAGA means. ↑
28. Wilfred M. McClay, “How to Think about Patriotism,” 111. ↑
29. The first three Scriptures listed here were provided by John Piper when asked a similar question on patriotism. See John Piper, “How Much Patriotism is too Much Patriotism,” Desiring God Article, July 3, 2020. ↑
30. J. Philip Wogaman, “Where is the Protestant Mainstream?” in God and Country, 89. ↑
31. Wogaman, “Where is the Protestant Mainstream?” in God and Country, 89. ↑
32. Wogaman, “Where is the Protestant Mainstream?” in God and Country, 89. ↑
33. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, Philippians in World Biblical Commentary, vol. 43, rev. ed. (Waco, TX: Thomas Nelson, 2004), 231. ↑
34. Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), 161. ↑

35. S.v., πολιτεύεσθε, A Greek-English Lexicon, 846; Hawthrone and Martin, Philippians, 69. One commentary observes, “Scholars differ as to the exact force of the word [citizenship] in this text. It was a word built upon the Greek polis (city) and had overtones of citizenship responsibilities” Richard R. Melick, Jr., Philippians, in The New American Commentary, vol. 32, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1991), 89. ↑
    

36. In this form the verb appears only twice in the New Testament, here and in Acts 23:1 (Hawthrone and Martin, 68). ↑
    

37. Richard R. Melick, Jr., Philippians, 89. ↑
38. Hawthorne & Martin adroitly say of the text, “Thus, to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ means to live as a good citizen of an earthly state, fully discharging one’s duties and responsibilities to that state.” See Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, Philippians, 78. ↑

39. Paul doubles down on this same point in Philippians 3:20. ↑