I am with those who say church and state should be kept separate. However, I think that those who believe in ardent nationalism have something in common with those who wear their religion on their sleeves. My intention is to look at the words nationalism and patriotism and what they mean to me.
Nationalism and patriotism may have had 'nobler' meanings but they have been hijacked by those who believe in military aggression, "us versus them" a la George W Bush view of the world or those who believe in their inherent superiority over others. People who profess diplomacy and pluralism are scoffed at and called elitists or pseudos. The word nationalism has become synonymous with jingoism. Patriotism now means you are against a group of : Muslims or Jews or Blacks or Browns or Asians or in other words: a minority, who in turn is always on the defense for fear of being perceived as not being patriotic enough.
I came across a wonderful essay by Pankaj Mishra on how militant patriotism and ethnic cleansing have lead both India and Israel to moral wilderness. Mr. Mishra compares the parallel post colonial histories of India and Israel and goes on to say that:
Hindu nationalism and ultra-Zionism may seem aberrant pathologies in usually healthy body-politics. But they are only the increasingly visible underside of the post-imperial ideology of the nation-state that regards contiguous ethnic and religious communities as essentially antagonistic. Narendra Modi and Avigdor Lieberman represent, in distinct ways, the clearest and fullest consummation of majoritarian nationalism.
And he concludes thus:
Gandhi’s vision of postcolonial India as embodying a higher ethic; and his and Buber’s ideals cannot escape strong skepticism. But who except zealots can deny that the paths Gandhi and Buber explicitly warned against – the homogeneous nation-state, military force, social and economic individualism – have led both their countries into a moral wilderness. Now, as the chasm between the founding ideals and actuality of India and Israel widens, it may soon be imperative to examine the dreams and forebodings of prophets scorned in their own times. Certainly, as Grossman writes, only then would it be ‘possible to escape from the shackling, desperate day-to-day, from the great mistake that looms over our every step and gradually stifles our souls.’
Please go on and read the whole thing. It is well worth it.
As an Indian-American, I cannot escape connecting the above article with the current goings on of the American right. The notion of nationalism and patriotism have been reduced to: flags, pins, love of wars and hatred of foreigners and minorities. Those who sing national anthem the loudest (with their hand on their chest no doubt) are the patriots. Those who speak up against war crimes and atrocities of the state are the traitors. Sarah Palin is a true patriot. Barack Obama is anti-American.
So it goes. But it does not have to be this way. It may be time we reclaimed the word patriotism. Patriotism does not have to be a dirty word. Who among us has not felt a surge of pride when our countryman does well in Olympics or Chess. Who among us does not appreciate it when we find something wonderful about our history.
Patriotism must go beyond the surge of pride however. Patriotism, to me, is about caring deeply. It is about caring about your country enough to stand up and fight for it. Mahatma Gandhi understood this. Countless and nameless others understood this in the struggle for Indian freedom. But it cannot be an emotion that only comes out when other countries are in play.
Patriotism is really about who we are as a people. If you have enough self respect to not accept a bribe, you are probably a patriot. If you take offense in others littering and spitting and polluting and destroying your city, your train, your bus, your forests, your monuments, your rivers and your oceans, chances are, you care deeply about your land and its people. If you have the courage to stand up for truth and justice, even when it is against the powerful status quo, you are a true and blue patriot. If you have the integrity to look at your country's history for what it is (and not what you think it should be) and understand that it is not perfect, and sometimes it is even horrible, you are a goddamn patriot.
And when you truly love your country, you no longer hate others'.
