So as I'm still in sort of culture analysis mode as I'm only back at home for 3 weeks so far. One thing that I found made me uncomfortable more than the average person when I was in America was the nationalism. I'm unsure of why it wore on me the wrong way so much, but it did. What's been making me think about this recently is a poll that an RTE programme "Prime Time" did that compared Irish attitudes in 1986 and now again in 2006.
If anyone doesn't know about the situation in modern Ireland, but life, culture, social reality.....I guess everything has changed since the 1980s. The economy has gone from having 20% unemployment when I was a child to now one of the strongest in Europe, from being seen as close to a third world country with emigration (both legal and illegal) to America and Britain extremely high, to now being one of the 10 richest in the world. Social life in Ireland has undergone huge changes too. People are becoming extremely disillusioned with the Catholic Church as sexual abuse scandals seem to appear with startling regularity. Many people have described the change in Irish culture as transforming from a pre-modern culture to a post-modern while not really experiencing the modernistic world view that has been present in other Western European cultures.
One comparison that the pole made struck me as I'm sure something like this would never happen in the US. In 1986 the poll said, "If Ireland was attacked would you be willing to fight for your country?" In 1986 50% of those responding said they would, while 30% said they would not, 20% were unsure. By 2006 however things have changed drastically. Now 50% said they would not fight for their country, 30% said they would and 20% said they didn't know.
This may seem hard to believe as if you're in Ireland people are definitely proud to be Irish and love their country. I think one difference between Ireland and America in this aspect is that the Irish pride and love for country is not rooted in the State. People, no matter who they voted for tend to distrust the government and politicians much more than their American counterparts. When the Taoiseach (the prime minister) appears in public people don't wave Irish flags, like they do for the American president. When you see the football team playing an international, or if Ireland's in the World Cup you'll see flags flying from every car and pub in the country. I don't necessarily think either type of nationalism is better or worse than the other, but I had to think about why I had a visceral reaction to the form of nationalism that I found in the US.
I'm sure there's plenty of factors that play into the difference in nationalisms (i.e. such as the age of the two societies, America being a young country that has only experienced one form of government while Ireland having a civilization for thousands of years and experiencing several different forms of state including foreign dominance has much more history under its belt and perhaps a healthy level of skepticism about the particular state and politicians that happen to be ruling).
As I'm a Wheaton grad, let me put a Christian twist on this. A few months ago during the Center for Applied Christian Ethics' annual symposium, I heard a young man named Josh Casteel, who recently received his status as a conscientious objector and was discharged from the US Army. He served as an interrogator for 6 months in a prison that has gained quite a reputation over the past while, and rightly so, Abu Ghraib. He spoke to us about many things, but one was about the place of nationalism. He discussed about how our allegiance to Christ and his order for our world (some call it his kingdom) should be our most important allegiance, much higher than country, and also before family. We should realize that we have more of a commitment to our fellow Christians around the world than our fellow citizen down the road. What does this mean? I'm not sure how to practically think out all the ramifications of that, but I know there are many. I know we may hear that a lot, but it is something we need to do more than hear. We need to listen to it. What would happen if all the Christians in the western world cared more about the fortunes of their fellow Christians, most who live in the developing world, instead of the economic gain of their own countries?
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It's nearly impossible to imagine the western Christian community, on the whole, caring like that. We are good at reacting out of guilt, but really caring is a different matter. I think there is a chance, though... or maybe I'm a dreamer, but it seems like our generation is bringing attention to the more important issues in life. Hopefully.
Also, do you think that not only the age/legacy of our countries plays a part in the differing nationalism (and such), but also the fact that America is a conglomeration of cultures? When I was little, I wished I was Jewish because the people KNEW their heritage and HAD traditions. I think Americas' are a bit like a weird menagerie and heavily dependent on family culture. You know what I mean? I didn't study anthropology, so you'll have to set me straight. :)
If it makes you feel better, nationalism in America rubs me the wrong way too, and I’ve always lived in the States. Besides the reasons you mentioned, I can think of two other reasons why there is a lack of healthy skepticism about patriotism in the US general public.
One is that the US has never had an oppressive government ruling it, or at least not oppressive to the majority. Because of this, I think there is a certain naivety and underlying trust that doesn’t exist in many other countries.
Also, I think the “powers that be” have put a lot of time into creating the American history myth, so that a majority of people, unless they go on in school, enjoy reading history books, or have honest history teachers, will end up with an incomplete picture of US history. They will know about the Revolutionary War, where we fought against tyranny, the Civil War where we fought against slavery, and the World Wars where we saved the day for our allies, while missing some of the darker sides. They may get oppression of the Native Americans and of the slaves, but Civil Rights ended all that. They will not learn about the permanent and long-lasting destruction the US did throughout Central and South America, nor the internment camps of WWII, nor the harm done in various countries in the name of anti-communism, where dictators and oppressive governments were supported instead as a result.
I think that is one of the main reasons I am not patriotic-because I know of the atrocities (or even just corruptions) committed by the US throughout its brief history, which is not something to be proud of. Plus, as you said, I belong to another Kingdom, whose members I have more allegiance and commonality with than simply those who were born in the same place as I. I think if the Western, and specifically US church realized this (instead of getting stuck on the cares within its boarders), there would be a real opportunity for service, care, and meeting of the minds-a willingness to listen, understand, and help that has not been seen previously. I pray that this will be so.
-Krissy
What about this every "Christian" church I have visited has had some form of American flag on display in some area as some form of allegiance to the state. There is only one way to look at that: Idolism.
Nationalism like that in the US is very dangerous and could be compared to a night with copious amounts of alcohol; anything might happen.
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