TRUE PATRIOTISM

To love one’s country means to love others

With the Fourth of July upon us, let’s ponder patriotism.

I will wave an American flag on Independence Day. Waving the flag is a simple gesture of love for country.

It should be enough to trust that if you fly your flag from your front porch or wave it at a neighborhood parade, you are bound with others as a true American partisan. Nowadays, though, flag-wavers are challenged left and right by the left and the right.

Critics on the left say that flag-waving betrays a spirit of nativism that elevates national pride to a vice. They point to the sins of our nation’s treatment of Native Americans, our history of racism, and our exploitation of other peoples for the sake of our empire as evidence of patriotic excess. Their cosmopolitanism wishes to love every human being with equal love to what we show toward Americans. Borders are unnatural boundaries imposed by powerful politicians and protected by powerful armies. Waving a national flag is therefore inherently inhumane. It asserts a claim of superiority that is blind to moral failings.

The witty British journalist G. K. Chesterton called these cosmopolitans to task in his own day. They love humankind in general, he said, but have a hard time loving any humans in particular. They love the whole world with a cold idealism, but that makes them equally cool toward those closest to them. In contrast, those who love those nearest to them most will have greater sympathy for those farthest from them. A wife believes most in marriage when she loves her husband with whom she lives. If she loves marriage more than her imperfect husband, she undermines the institution of marriage as well as her own.

A patriot loves his country because it is his, but he understands that those who live in other countries feel the same about theirs, and this gains his respect. He understands that he might have to fight and die for his flag against those who do the same under theirs, but because he is self-aware of the perils of war he refuses to turn his enemy into an animal to justify his fight.

Critics from the right too often equate patriotism with nationalism and militarism. If you love your country you must think it exceptional. The term exceptionalism was first used by Alexis de Tocqueville to describe a country built on principles rather than historical circumstance. America is unusual in being built upon ideals like freedom and opportunity for all. America cares less about where you come from and more about what you amount to. When, however, these exceptional qualities provide a mask for imposing our will on others because we are better than others, we undermine the principles we claim to live by.

The same is true for those who equate patriotism with military service or unqualified military support. If you didn’t serve, you will never understand. If you don’t see military action as the solution to every international problem, don’t bother unfurling your flag.

Patriotism is not a competition. Patriots love their country by loving their countrymen; and they love the rest of the world by loving their country first. What makes America exceptional just may be our capacity to see our flag-waving neighbors as fellow patriots, even if they don’t vote the way we do.

Lakewood Brewing Company, owned by neighborhood resident Wim Bens, was awarded a gold medal for its Till & Toil ale at the 2014 San Diego County Fair’s beer competition and festival. With more than 900 entries from 13 countries and 19 states, the festival is one of the largest in the country.

The Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, which is located in East Dallas, recently launched the DCAC Research Institute, for which Jeff Wherry was named director. DCAD hopes the research institute will help them better understand some of the complex issues surrounding child abuse — such as the effectiveness of interventions, investigations, long-term outcomes, and prevention services for child abuse victims. The institute is funded by a grant from RGK Foundation and Hillcrest Foundation, and it is intended to be a catalyst for nationwide, systematic and transformative change.

Neighbor Gary Cogill, former movie critic on WFAA, has shifted his focus to producing films with his company Lascaux Films, and his first film “Words and Pictures” debuted at Landmark Magnolia pictures in June. “Words and Pictures” is a witty romantic comedy featuring Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen about a one-time literary star whose job is on the line because he hasn’t published in years. He meets his match with a new art teacher, an abstract painter, and declares war between words and pictures, in an attempt to prove words have greater meaning that pictures. He ropes in the students and battle lines are drawn.

Dallas filmmakers and father-daughter duo Fonya Mondell and Allen Mondell are making a documentary about the rapid changes in the Henderson Avenue area. They are looking for those old photographs, films and postcards that will provide a personal and historical picture of the street and the neighborhoods. If you think you can help, contact Allen at allen@mediaprojects.org or by phone at 214.826.386, between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the week.

The Lakewood Library Friends is seeking donations of gently used books, paperbacks, audio books, CDs, DVDs and other media items for its Annual Book Sale to be held in September in conjunction with LibraryFest. All proceeds from the sale will benefit the Lakewood Branch Library. Donations may be brought to the Lakewood Library Tuesday though Saturday during regular business hours. The Lakewood Branch Library is located at 6121 Worth. Call 214-670-1376 for more inforamtion, or go to lakewoodlibraryfriendsdallas.org.

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Cool things down this summer with the Safari Nights concert series at the Dallas Zoo. Free with regular admission. Featuring A Hard Night’s Day, The O’s and more!

For more information, visit DallasZoo.com or text “SAFARI” to 47464.

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