The Cold War is rightly unlamented, but that struggle gave America a sense of purpose for decades. That struggle ended as I was coming of age. Through my early adult years, my country suffered from a palpable lack of direction or purpose. The attacks of September 11, 2001 brought that aimlessness to a tragic end. In the weeks following those attacks, as we anxiously wondered what came next, Americans discovered the true meaning of patriotism in our care and concern for our neighbors and their loved ones. It is often said that we "came together" in those anxious days; as someone who lived in one of America's great cities during those days, I unreservedly believe this to be true.
As time passed, however, America's political and media leaders manipulated our anxieties and our patriotism toward their own ends. Our government dusted off pre-existing plans for a war of aggression in Iraq and used the tragedy of 9/11 to convince us that what was once unthinkable was now necessary. Civil rights were trammeled; Muslims were increasingly viewed with suspicion. Our supposedly independent media* was pressed into service to sell this "crusade." We were told that we could only be with America or against her; by implication, dissent was unpatriotic.
For me personally, the search for spiritual meaning that first gripped me in my early 20s accelerated after 9/11 -- partly because of world events, but probably more because I learned that I would soon be a father. Informed by my deepening faith, I became convinced that my nation's march toward war was immoral. Increasingly, when I heard my fellow citizens sing "God Bless America," I felt the sentiment was really "God bless only America" -- a blasphemous sentiment, for sure. As reports emerged of Muslim immigrants and citizens detained without trial, and innocents held alongside the guilty for years on end in military prisons like the one at Guantanamo Bay, I was shocked by my countrymen's indifference. I questioned my patriotism. When I raised the flag outside my home, was I condoning the evils I believed my government was carrying out in my name? When I took my children to Memorial Day parades and other patriotic displays, was I teaching them that those things were right?
Ultimately, my sense of patriotism, or loyalty to my country, won out. If I saw the worst of humanity on the news or at political rallies, I saw the best of humanity in my neighbors as they cared for my family during my daughter's illness, and as they helped my wife and I raise a child with special needs. In church, I prayed for my neighbors' children fighting halfway around the world; they, in turn, prayed for my children. I could not imagine breaking faith with them -- such disloyalty would be dishonorable. I love my country -- and am loyal to it -- because it is their country as well as mine. That loyalty is a thing of honor, and transcends whatever I may feel about the government of the moment, or even about the American system of government generally. I still fly my flag as a symbol of those things I hold dear. My loyalty, however, is to those things themselves -- not to the flag, or even to the republic for which it stands.
Loyalty is not an unqualified virtue. Criminals and terrorists are often loyal to one another, but we do not celebrate that. We do, however, celebrate the lives of dissidents who kept faith with their countrymen by breaking faith with their rulers. Washington, Bonhoeffer, Solzhenitsyn, and Havel are rightly considered heroes; those who opposed them out of a misguided sense of loyalty are not. Most of us will find that loyalty in our personal circumstances includes some degree of acquiescence to the status quo (even if we disagree with it), but demanding that such acquiescence be thoughtful rather than reflexive does not reflect a lack of loyalty.
As you might expect, these views inform the stance I have taken in my debate with NES about loyalty in this game. If I question the virtue of blind loyalty to a nation state, surely I will not demand such blind loyalty to a region in NationStates. If I refuse to countenance the demonization of outsiders when life and death are on the line, surely I will not demonize outsiders for the sake of a game. And if I believe my loyalty to America is rightly understood as loyalty to my neighbors, rather than to the symbols and institutions of the nation, then surely my loyalty to Europeia will be to the people who form the community we call Europeia -- not to the symbols and institutions that may bear that name.
One of Europeia's core values has long been that that we do not define ourselves by reference to an existential battle with outsiders. This core value is the foundation for our community. If you want an example of a region defined by conflict rather than community, look at Unknown. Surely, that is not a model we seek to emulate.
As we seek to learn the lessons of the past year, let's not lose sight of our foundations.
*-Those of you too young to remember the run-up to the Iraq war should read a bit about what Judith Miller wrote in the NY Times. Seriously, Google it. You will never question the importance of an independent media -- or take its existence for granted -- ever again.
As time passed, however, America's political and media leaders manipulated our anxieties and our patriotism toward their own ends. Our government dusted off pre-existing plans for a war of aggression in Iraq and used the tragedy of 9/11 to convince us that what was once unthinkable was now necessary. Civil rights were trammeled; Muslims were increasingly viewed with suspicion. Our supposedly independent media* was pressed into service to sell this "crusade." We were told that we could only be with America or against her; by implication, dissent was unpatriotic.
For me personally, the search for spiritual meaning that first gripped me in my early 20s accelerated after 9/11 -- partly because of world events, but probably more because I learned that I would soon be a father. Informed by my deepening faith, I became convinced that my nation's march toward war was immoral. Increasingly, when I heard my fellow citizens sing "God Bless America," I felt the sentiment was really "God bless only America" -- a blasphemous sentiment, for sure. As reports emerged of Muslim immigrants and citizens detained without trial, and innocents held alongside the guilty for years on end in military prisons like the one at Guantanamo Bay, I was shocked by my countrymen's indifference. I questioned my patriotism. When I raised the flag outside my home, was I condoning the evils I believed my government was carrying out in my name? When I took my children to Memorial Day parades and other patriotic displays, was I teaching them that those things were right?
Ultimately, my sense of patriotism, or loyalty to my country, won out. If I saw the worst of humanity on the news or at political rallies, I saw the best of humanity in my neighbors as they cared for my family during my daughter's illness, and as they helped my wife and I raise a child with special needs. In church, I prayed for my neighbors' children fighting halfway around the world; they, in turn, prayed for my children. I could not imagine breaking faith with them -- such disloyalty would be dishonorable. I love my country -- and am loyal to it -- because it is their country as well as mine. That loyalty is a thing of honor, and transcends whatever I may feel about the government of the moment, or even about the American system of government generally. I still fly my flag as a symbol of those things I hold dear. My loyalty, however, is to those things themselves -- not to the flag, or even to the republic for which it stands.
Loyalty is not an unqualified virtue. Criminals and terrorists are often loyal to one another, but we do not celebrate that. We do, however, celebrate the lives of dissidents who kept faith with their countrymen by breaking faith with their rulers. Washington, Bonhoeffer, Solzhenitsyn, and Havel are rightly considered heroes; those who opposed them out of a misguided sense of loyalty are not. Most of us will find that loyalty in our personal circumstances includes some degree of acquiescence to the status quo (even if we disagree with it), but demanding that such acquiescence be thoughtful rather than reflexive does not reflect a lack of loyalty.
As you might expect, these views inform the stance I have taken in my debate with NES about loyalty in this game. If I question the virtue of blind loyalty to a nation state, surely I will not demand such blind loyalty to a region in NationStates. If I refuse to countenance the demonization of outsiders when life and death are on the line, surely I will not demonize outsiders for the sake of a game. And if I believe my loyalty to America is rightly understood as loyalty to my neighbors, rather than to the symbols and institutions of the nation, then surely my loyalty to Europeia will be to the people who form the community we call Europeia -- not to the symbols and institutions that may bear that name.
One of Europeia's core values has long been that that we do not define ourselves by reference to an existential battle with outsiders. This core value is the foundation for our community. If you want an example of a region defined by conflict rather than community, look at Unknown. Surely, that is not a model we seek to emulate.
As we seek to learn the lessons of the past year, let's not lose sight of our foundations.
*-Those of you too young to remember the run-up to the Iraq war should read a bit about what Judith Miller wrote in the NY Times. Seriously, Google it. You will never question the importance of an independent media -- or take its existence for granted -- ever again.
