Patriotism.  That word is a mouthful.  No matter where or when you say it, or who you say it to, you are guaranteed to get an emotional reaction.  People think there’s not enough of it, or too much of it.  Polls on the news are constantly monitoring the level of it in the country.  More and more people ask, “Are you a patriotic American?”

     What a confusing question in these times.  If someone asks you that, it seems that what they really mean is “Do you express your love of country the same way that I do?”

     If Patriotism is nothing more than weeping publicly at the military strains of some fourth of July hymn, chanting U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! at every opportunity, bursting out of your buttons at the sight of the flag, and believing without question in the rightness of every action of your country, that seems to leave out a lot of people.  And yet, the frame of public opinion seems centered on this as the pinnacle of patriotism.  It seems to be our only definition of patriotism.

     It’s hard to think of yourself as a patriot today if you have questions.  This is not the time for questions.  This is a crisis.  After all, we must strike with one unified hand. Dissent weakens our collective might.  When things are not so critical and dangerous, then it will be time to talk.  Until then, if you disagree, you should be quiet and go along…for the greater good.  There is time enough for dissent when we are not in crisis.

     Except what is the point of dissent in a time of calm and tranquility?  Who even hears the voices of dissent then?  They don’t really come through.  When we are at peace, and the economy is good, and the top two-thirds of the population are prospering, what is there to talk about?  The problems of the economic and popular minorities are foreign to most of us, and dissent seems remote, and inconsequential.  Things are in a rhythm, a groove.  Why would you want to rock the boat in times of peace and relative prosperity?  In fact, doesn’t that seem a little kooky?  Who are these people, these spoilers who can’t seem to be happy even when things are going well? 

     To be frank, it is never a good time for dissent.  Dissent often boils down to telling the majority of the people in this country that you think they are wrong.  That’s just not comfortable for anyone.  Who likes to be told that someone thinks they are wrong?  Who likes to be the one doing the telling?  Oh, to be sure, there is always that one who loves to feel superior and cannot disguise how delightful it is to point out the spinach in your teeth, or that you haven’t gotten around to taking the Christmas lights off your house, even though it’s July.  Who wants to be one of those people, and who wants to be around them?

     Then again, make a mental list, from your own life, or from the news and current events, who are never told that they are wrong.  What would Michael Jackson look like right now if someone had said to him “Mr. Jackson?  This plastic surgery thing isn’t a good idea.  You are downright adorable right now, in the face you were born with.”  Maybe it would have changed nothing, or maybe it would have saved him from becoming the walking human mutilation that he is now.

     Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussain, your Great Aunt Marcy, you know…the one with all the cats?  The people who should have told them “You’ve gone too far” were silenced.  In the case of Stalin, Hitler and Hussain, they were shot, gassed, and or tortured first.  Great Aunt Marcy just gave them the hairy eyeball, and said mean things about the person that they married.

      Think about the people in your life who will tell you that they think you are wrong.  Think about the best friend who said “Quit making excuses for your abusive lover”, or the spouse who nags you about what eating all that bacon is doing to your heart, or even the snooty stranger who takes in the outfit you chose for your last night on the town and gave you the “What were you thinking?” look.  When that happens, don’t you take a better look at yourself than at any other time?  It makes you stop in your tracks and decide if your behavior is self-destructive.  It makes you decide if you understand your own motivations.  You don’t have to accept their view of things, but knowing their viewpoint gives you the opportunity to consciously and deliberately decide who you will be, what you will do, how you will be seen.

     Dissent is never fun, rarely convenient, but it is always essential.  It’s a sanity check, a mirror showing us how some people see us.  It’s kind of a helping hand in the crafting of our own selves.  It’s usually done out of love, but even when it’s not, it can be of benefit to us.

     So what does this have to do with Patriotism?  Well, if you can say “Honey, I think two pieces of bacon is enough”, and still be a loyal spouse, it stands to reason that you can be a patriotic American and ask questions about the motivations of our leaders, express disappointment at what you see as half-hearted diplomacy in the U.N, and even just say “I wish U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians didn’t have to get blown up.”  In fact, I think that it’s only those who really love you that you can count on to tell you when they think you might be wrong.