Loving Our Country With Honesty
Why Are Liberals Often Accused of Being Unpatriotic?
By: Leon H · Section: Culture
RedState.org
Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, which for most of us in this great country means that it is time to reflect with thankfulness that we live in the great, free country that we do.
For others, it is a time to reflect on the great evil that this country represents to them:
<< This July 4th is Flag Burning Day! >>
nyc.indymedia.org
As I'm sure there will be quite a bit of posting material from the other editors on this site tomorrow about the birth of this country and what it means to them, I thought it might be worthwhile to examine how it is that residents of the same country can so often come to very different conclusions about the value and worth of their own heritage? Specifically, I thought it worthwhile to seek an explanation for the question, "Why are liberals often accused of being unpatriotic?"
In the spirit of the holiday, in which we set aside our partisan differences and take some time to revel in the fact that we are something more than just Democrats or Republicans - we are Americans, I offer this post as a public service to our liberal friends who often express puzzlement at finding their patriotism questioned by others.
Below the fold, I will not bash liberals' patriotism, but rather seek to explain why so many others do:
It is first necessary, in regarding what Nick often calls The Big Ditch®, to examine the lens through which others see life. So many discussions on topics of all nature fail to resolve problems because those engaged in the discussion approach it with completely different underlying assumptions about reality. Each side assumes that the other shares their assumptions, when the reality is that neither does. Thus, the two participants often end the discussion in anger, making further assumptions about the character of the other that may or may not be true, and valuable time is wasted attempting to hammer round pegs into square holes.
In the great discussion that happens across The Big Ditch® about loving America, liberals often make the false assumption that conservatives are either unaware or deliberately obtuse about some of the less glamorous aspects of America's past. For instance, in Al Franken's intolerably smarmy book, 'Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right', Franken includes a chapter called "Loving America Like Adults" (I think I have that right), in which he lectures all the naive conservatives about all the bad things America has done in the past - and how we should all grow up and recognize that our country just isn't perfect.
Franken arrogantly assumes that either conservatives haven't read any history books, or that we're somehow glossing over the ugly aspects of our past. Neither is true. No one that I know of on this site will defend the shameful treatment of the Native Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries. We recognize the past evils of slavery (our party was sort of created to defeat it). And we further call the modern day foray into abortion-on-demand what it is: a blight on the history of our country.
It is not that we are unaware of or indifferent to these things. It is rather that we understand that nations are composed of people, and that people are often prone to make mistakes. And further, that both nations and people who make the great mistakes are capable of becoming great despite their shortcomings.
Consider the men who are heroes of times past: Churchhill, FDR, George Washington - all were men with deep flaws who became great in spite of them. Some of my personal heroes - the apostles Peter and Paul - were men who made humongous, blundering mistakes early on in life, only to turn it all around and become pillars of a faith that has stood for 2000 years.
Conservatives understand that while the history of this country does not, in fact, read like a fairytale, our nation has become the greatest nation on earth in spite of some missteps along the way. We helped defeat the aggressors in World War I. We turned the tide of the battle and saved the world from the imperialism of the Nazis, Fascists and Japanese in World War II. We recognized the evil and oppression of communism, and consistently fought for the freedom of people all over the world in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. We stepped in to aid the Bosnians who were facing an ethnic cleansing, we freed Afghanistan from the iron grip of the Taliban, we liberated the Iraqis from the fear of Saddam and his maniacal sons, and we are the benevolent equivalent of Santa Claus for the whole world - providing aid to regions far and near - hostile or friendly. Furthermore, our country remains a beacon of freedom both religious and secular for the entire world - the gold standard by which the rest of the world is measured. Conservatives recognize that these things make our country great, and we wouldn't trade it for any other in history - despite the problems and flaws of the past.
What causes many conservatives to question the patriotism of liberals is really a matter of emphasis. It may not be factually accurate, but it certainly seems that liberals are quicker to emphasize the evil that America has had than they are to emphasize the good that America was, is, and will become. To a liberal, the significant events of America's past are not World War I, World War II, the Cold War, freedom and liberty - they are smallpox, and the Trail of Tears, and internment. Neither side denies that the favorite events of the other side happened. They merely answer the question, "Has it all been worth it?" very differently.
No event in history encapsulates the difference between the two viewpoints more starkly than the conflict in Vietnam. Conservatives saw it as evidence of the bigheartedness of this nation - we were going to try and stop the spread of Communism and oppression in an entire are of the world. Liberals could only see a country meddling in something that wasn't their business, and were all to eager to believe that we were playing villains and assassins in a conflict that wasn't ours.
The best way I can illustrate this disconnect is to liken the relationship to the parent/child relationship. One set of parents has a child that goes through some unruly years as a youth. The child raises Cain, gets involved in drugs and crime, and grieves the parents deeply. And yet, the parents continue to love and encourage their child to do better. With time, the child grows into a responsible adult, a loving husband and father, and responsible member of the community. For the first set of parents, all of the hell-raising of times past are forgotten in the joy of what their child has ultimately become. We'll call these parents "conservatives."
Then, there is another set of parents who have a very similar child. Every small misstep the child makes throughout life is criticized harshly. The child is frequently told not only that their actions are bad, but that they are a bad person. When the child goes off to raise Cain in early adulthood, the parents disinvite them to holiday dinners and make it clear that they're not welcome until they straighten up. When the child finally does straighten up, the parents grudgingly accept it, but continually bring up the sins of the past at every proud moment in the child's life. We'll call these parents "liberals."
Do both sets of parents love their children? It's certainly possible that that is so. Is it harder to tell in the case of the "liberals?" I'll leave that question to you, dear reader, to answer for yourself.
And if you're one of those "liberals" reading this post, the next time you find yourself puzzled at why someone would question the love that you have for your country, consider what you would think of a parent who treated their child the way you treat your country. Is it fair for any person to tell a parent that they don't love their child? Perhaps not. But perhaps also there is a place for realizing that our actions and our criticisms often have repercussions in the minds of others, and that we often approach the question with very different defitions of what "love" means.
More importantly, we often have very different definitions of what "love" looks like.
God Bless, and Happy Independence Day.
UPDATE: 7/3/04 4:26pm CST: Welcome, DailyKos readers, to RedState and my personal blog. I repeat for emphasis that this post does not explain why liberals are less patriotic, but only why they seem less patroitic. And further, that this does not apply to ALL liberals, but the ones of the kind mentioned in the link at the top of this page - and while we're mentioning it, this guy and others like him.
dailykos.com
Again, Happy 4th!
Jul 3rd, 2005: 14:51:00, Rated: 5.00/5
redstate.org |
