I came across an article this morning that I needed to read, titled "I can't remember the last time I felt patriotic, can you?" The author was Molly Cahill, and the article appeared on the America Magazine site.
From the article:
"I’ve been feeling so down on the state of affairs in this nation that I’ve started to wonder if I can even celebrate the Fourth of July this year without feeling painfully disingenuous. I guess I’ve been looking for magic to strike, for some reason to believe in the promise of the country I call home—and then to feel comfortable and proud celebrating it."
"So this week, I did what I like to do whenever I’m in need of some hope: I talked to people who are smarter than I am. Thankfully, my colleagues at America fit that description. I asked them if they could remember the last time they felt patriotic. Many of their answers were moments in the shared cultural memory of our country. The terror attacks of Sept. 11 and when President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium after the national tragedy. Barack Obama taking the stage at Millennium Park after his election in 2008, when a colleague told me, “I remember thinking: I can’t believe this is real.” Watching the Olympics. Nationwide protests against President Trump’s 2017 immigration order, when thousands of Americans demonstrated in airports on behalf of migrants and refugees. Amanda Gorman reciting her poem at President Biden’s inauguration. Some answers called upon more recent events, even as recent as this week. One colleague told me he felt patriotic listening to Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony in the House Jan. 6 committee hearing. Listening “made me proud to share a country with her,” he said. Another colleague was inspired seeing Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. “Our country is more deeply divided than I’ve seen in my lifetime. But it also still holds out promise for people like Justice Jackson, who herself is a sign for others who strive to take their rightful place in a country that is still, even with all its faults, open to strivers,” he told me."
"A few people told me stories about local communities that represented what America is, or could be, to them. Someone told me about attending an elementary school graduation and feeling patriotic as she heard the students sing the national anthem and was struck with the realization that these are our country’s future leaders. “Their innocence along with their excitement to continue their education made me realize that yes, there is so much hate and bad in this world, but we also have the next generation who are poised to make a difference,” she said"
"...One colleague said it simply and without hesitation: “The last time I felt patriotic? Today. I love my country. And I think I feel that every day.” When we talked about the real and present suffering in the United States today, he told me, “There’s nothing on this side of heaven that I love that isn’t broken.”
"My colleagues succeeded in pointing me in the direction of hope, of remembering the things that are still good amid the mess. For me, for now, the mess is still a bit heavier than the hope.....Whatever the reasons, I’m not alone in a kind of sadness and shame about the state of the United States that is still just too difficult to shake."
"After hearing the stories my colleagues told me, I recognized that I have a choice: I can refrain from celebrating Independence Day, or I can seek out a different way to observe it, one that both reflects where I’m at at the moment and also gets me involved in the process of making this American project better."
",,,I am not proud to live in a country where almost 300 mass shootings have occurred just this year. I am not proud to live in a country whose social safety net is not prepared to support pregnant people, children and families. I am not proud to live in a country where we talk past each other unceasingly because we no longer share basic language and precepts. And yet, I am an American."
"....This little experiment in patriotism with my colleagues didn’t wrap all doubts and questions perfectly with a bow on top. But it did highlight an important truth: Reasons for hurt and reasons for hope are happening at the same time, always. Both are true at the same time. That’s what I’ll try to celebrate this year."
It is worth noting that Molly Cahill is a young person; she called herself a Gen Z. The young people are supposedly the ones who will never forgive their elders for bequeathing to them a country which is a mess. Yet it is worth remembering that every generation has inherited a country (and a world) which is a mess. The young people I know, including our sons and daughters in law, are good people, who live useful and productive lives. Those of you who have children have shared that yours are as well. They've got this, they will do what they need to, to make a difference.
I am ambivalent towards “patriotism” like I am ambivalent toward “Catholic identity” largely for the same reasons. The people who think they are strong “patriots” and strong “Catholics” are usually guilty of idolatry, i.e. putting Nation or Church in the place of God.
ReplyDeleteI prefer not to use “institutional’ language like Nation or Church rather I prefer to talk about America and Catholicism as “organizations” that consist of human capital (citizens, baptized) social capital (institutions like parishes, states and counties) and cultural capital (the Constitution, the Bible).
To talk about being members of such organizations as if they were only institutions (yes one can renounce both citizenship, and baptism) fails to reflect the social and psychological reality that we are constantly relating to fellow citizens and Catholics, and we are embedded in complex national and ecclesial cultures.
I have a deep admiration and relationship to both America and Catholicism because I believe the Spirit of God is active in both while at the same time both America and Catholicism are full of very flawed people (including most the leadership), institutions are deeply in need of reform (someone recently suggest our Constitution is so deeply out of touch that we need another Constitution Convention) and mixed cultures that both mediate and oppose Gospel values.
In regard to America, certainly our worship of money, power, and status are all antithetical to the Gospel. At the same time our core strong values of a personal relationship to the Divine (spirituality) and voluntarism (organizing to help one another) are in accord with the primacy of love of God and love of neighbor.
In regard to Catholicism our millennial long disaster of clericalism (exaggerated roles for clergy, bishops, and the papacy, Mass and Office in Latin, communion restricted to priests and religious) are certainly antithetical to the Servant Leadership of Jesus. However, in the West has arisen a great diversity of spirituality or ways of following Christ and interpreting the Gospel evident in the great diversity of our saints and religious orders.
As Francis continually reminds us, it is all a matter of discernment finding where the Spirit of God is leading us in our complex organizational lives.
Jack, I share your ambivalence regarding patriotism, and about the number of "very flawed people". And also would agree with Pope Francis that it is a matter of discernment in finding where the Spirit of God is leading us.
ReplyDeleteMy movie group, which is mostly comprised of middle-aged gay men, challenged everyone to list what they love about America. Here's mine:
ReplyDeleteThe Marx brothers, Harry Truman and his "level playing field," roller derbies, New Orleans krewes, burlesque, Liberace's 1954 Christmas special, farmers markets,Bette Davis movies, cider mills, Harley-Davidson, David Sedaris, "The Wizard of Oz," public librarians who stand up to censorship, Motown, caramel corn, the Navy band playing "Anchors Aweigh," election workers, quinceaneras, Koegel hot dogs, "Star Trek," the Mills brothers, wiener dogs, English teachers, blowing up diet Coke and Mentos, MAD Magazine, and drive-in movies.
It seems like a superficial exercise, but all the lists represented American decency, courage, creative endeavor, and good humor. Those are qualities we sorely need. And that's what my flag is flying for today.
That's a good list, Jean. It inspires me to make my own list. Will return with that later.
DeletePeople I am thankful for in America: mail carriers, plumbers, electricians, doctors, nurses, veterinarians. All the people that do the essential things. And the things that make life more enjoyable, libraries, parks, walking trails. We have public schools, private schools, and the freedom to home school if we want.
DeleteAnd we have nature, cottonwoods and sunflowers, meadowlarks and cardinals. Corn fields and wheat fields, rivers and lakes. And fireflies (they're back!)
Not the crop of fireflies here this summer owing to extreme dryness, but a few last night.
DeleteWell, my views have been impacted by the raised consciousness I have experienced during the last ten years about how different the experiences of minorities are than of white Americans. I know from my African American daughter in law’s experiences and I am also very aware of the dramatic increases in hate crimes towards Asian Americans in the last few years also. The racism that had been somewhat hidden for a long time surfaced when trump made it ok to express racism. All hate crimes have increased sharply since 2016 My full response to the article is in the comments that follow it. I see little hope that things will improve for racial, cultural, and religious mini and things will probably quickly get worse as states try to overturn gay marriage rights. Four of our 7 grandchildren are racial minorities. None of yours are in that group so the future outlook is not quite as grim for them. The GOP has systematically worked to enact laws in the states to ensure their continued dominance in state elections and also in National elections.
ReplyDeleteminorities not mini. Sigh
DeleteTrue, my kids aren't minorities, but they work with them, live next door to them, and have friends among various minorities. The grandkids go to school with them. We have some South Sudanese in our parish, and I think they probably have a better life here than the one they left. My point isn't that racism doesn't exist, of course it does. But I don't think we have lost everything that we have gained since the 1960s.
DeleteKatherine, America is obviously a better place than a war zone for the South Sudanese. Almost every rich country in the world is better for minority refugees than the place they left. Poland is a better place right now for Ukrainian refugees and everyone is white. There are indeed worse problems for some than a waiter ignoring you when you walk into a restaurant, or someone shouting to them to go home because they don’t “ belong” here, or calling a happy little boy a dirty n***er. Hasn’t happened yet. But it will.
DeleteWorking with minorities, going to school with minorities, having friends who are minorities are far removed from experiencing life as a minority in this country. As a grandmother I fear the day that our oldest grandson first experiences racial hate directed to him. I cried when my d- in- law experienced hate in LA - where it is far more rare than in White Midwestern states. Minorities - all of them combined - outnumber whites in California. But in the rural areas of the state, whites are dominant and they vote for trumpism. Yet she experienced horrible racial epithets in the grocery store parking lot in Pasadena California. Jim reports that not a single minority voter came to vote the day he worked at the polls. Plenty of minorities in the city of Chicago, but apparently not many in his white dominated suburb. I can’t repeat the many things I’ve learned from having my own, loved family family - my daughter in law- tell me her experiences. Even though I had gone to college with minorities, worked with minorities, and had a couple of minority friends. That is NOT enough to truly understand how they experience life here. Better than a lot of places, obviously, but a long way from experiencing it as whites do. The success of the trump- MAGA movement and the fact that tens of millions of Americans identify with it, shows that all the good that happened in the last 50 years could be undone in the next decade. The Texas GOP has included one n their platform this year the goal of reversing the Civil Rights Act. They won’t be the only state to try to do that. This SC has already shown in several cases this term that it’s quite willing to reverse decisions the far right doesn’t like.
If Americans could learn to love their fellow Americans, ALL of them of all types, that's what patriotism means to me. THAT would make up for the sins of the past and there are many which should not be forgotten and glossed over but mourned and repented of. We need to eschew empire in order to become a people of peoples who can live with each other instead of punishing each other.
ReplyDeleteI wish July 4 were less noisy and more reflective.
We need to become "...people who can live with each other instead of punishing each other." Amen to that, Stanley.
Delete" ... less noisy and more reflective." Sounds unAmerican to me. We've got a lot of drinking and fireworks going on in the cornfield. Be a miracle if there isn't a grass fire before the idiots get tired.
DeleteFires in the cornfield and shootings at the 4 th of July parade.
Deletehttps://apnews.com/article/chicago-july-4-parade-shooting-92b50feb80c19afe7842b9caf08545cb
Mass shootings are now a hallmark of America.
The shooting is, I think, not more than 20 miles from where Jim Pauwels is.
Delete"The shooting is, I think, not more than 20 miles from where Jim Pauwels is."
DeleteTrue. Coincidentally, I didn't learn about the shooting for a few hours because I was at our own town's Fourth of July parade, which is kind of a big production.
I haven't had time to really dig into the story, but I understand they caught the guy, who turns out to be (wait for it) a young man with personality issues and an alarming social media presence. Apparently his dad had recently been a mayoral candidate for the suburb in question, which is kind of an odd juxtaposition of facts. As of earlier today, they hadn't figured out where the gun came from.
I agree with Anne that there is something qualitatively different since Trump came on the scene.
ReplyDeleteIf Obama had lost to McCain or Romney, I would have been disappointed but not deeply concerned. I respected McCain for both his military career and his reputation as a "maverick" willing to legislate across party lines. Likewise, I respect Romney for his moral values, and business ability. The fact the Obama came out ahead of both, I attributed to the good sense of Americans, especially young Americans who worked for Obama. So, there was much hope for the future then.
I was disappointed that so many Americans voted for Trump, but he was still a minority president, and also lost the electoral vote the second time around. I am even more disappointed that there is a very substantial part of our population (about a third) that hold Trump in high admiration. And perhaps most disappointed that the Republican party has let a third of Americans at the instigation of Trump to dominate its intra-party politics in the choice of candidates and issues.
Within these political issues is the decision of many American Catholics to support Trump in order to get a Supreme Court that has now overturned Roe. While I would hope that they would now say "mission accomplished" and begin to question Trump and the Republicans, I fear that will not happen. My worst fear is that next presidential election they will help re-elect Trump their "hero" who delivered on his campaign promises.
I don't think they will elect Trump again. He is badly tarnished by the Jan. 6 hearings. What I am more worried about is that someone like DeSantis will get the nomination. He is like Trump but smarter and smoother.
Delete". And perhaps most disappointed that the Republican party has let a third of Americans at the instigation of Trump to dominate its intra-party politics in the choice of candidates and issues."
DeleteI once said something similar to one of lawyer friends- something along the lines of, "Reince Priebus should never had let him run". He told me there are laws which tie the hands of party leaders who would disallow certain candidates. Ultimately, there is a lot of fault to go around for Donald Trump.
There is a tradition of racism in this country that's always ready to reignite. I think the kids are a lot better than the ptevious generations. They seem to accept everything except intolerance. Maybe too accepting but if it reduces racism, fine. The other cause is financial insecurity which just brings out the worst.
ReplyDelete"Jim reports that not a single minority voter came to vote the day he worked at the polls. Plenty of minorities in the city of Chicago, but apparently not many in his white dominated suburb."
ReplyDeleteJust for the sake of accuracy: what I said was, Not a single Black voter across the three precincts represented in that school gymnasium. There were some other racial identities represented. And those three precincts represent only a small subset of the overall town.
To be sure: most of the residents of the town I live in are white people. According to the Census Bureau's QuickFacts, the town is about 78% white, 11% Asian (which covers a lot of ground, ethnically and culturally), about 7% Hispanic, and everyone else fits into the remaining slice of pie. That's actually quite a bit more diverse than it was when we moved here in the 1990s; at that time, it was well over 90% white.
As for the town itself: it's questionable to what extent it constitutes a discrete cultural unit. Cross a street about a half mile west of here, and you're in another town. The same is true if you go a few miles (or less) in any direction. If you step back and look at the overall suburban area rather than only the section within the rather arbitrary borders of this single town, you get a somewhat more diverse picture.
Re: patriotism: I don't walk around with my breast permanently swollen in patriotic pride. But I do love the United States, and I would sacrifice for its safety and security.
ReplyDeleteJust my view: this is a day to reflect in gratitude for the blessings we've received, and to try not to take for granted the liberties we enjoy which are not enjoyed universally. It's surely a day, too, to redouble our resolve to address the gaps and imperfections.
Molly Cahill's list was...interesting. Not the stuff that inspires me, but to each her own.
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing, though: she doesn't write as though she has a say in, or a role to play in, deciding how events unfold. She writes more as an observer or a critic: 'this was a good thing' / 'this was a bad thing'. Things happen, and her lot is to cheer or boo.
But the whole point of the American experiment is: we the people can take charge of those events and move them.
If someone were to ask me, I would say, I don't think she really believes that. I think she believes that gigantic, historical, impersonal forces are happening, and all we can do is observe, or take shelter, or rage against the storm.
She should know better. Donald Trump isn't president today only because Democrats organized and activated and funded and elected someone who is less flawed and less corrupt and who is marginally less bad at governing - but that is something! And Democrats control the Senate today because Democrats in Georgia got out and voted.
Yes, that's a good point. Collectively we all make a difference and sitting on the sidelines wringing our hands is useless.
DeleteGov Kemp of Georgia (or someone from GA testifying to the Jan 6 committee) said that 29,000 GOP voters voted down ballot but declined to vote for any presidential candidate. So it was not just Dems turning out to vote, but decent Republicans who apparently could not stomach Trump's lies and b.s. I am grateful to them.
Hopefully they will be so inclined when Trump runs in 2024.
I agree with Katherine. It seems unlikely that trump will be re- elected but trumpism will probably win. DeSantis is just as bad but smart and competent. He will succeed where trump fumbled. Even more scary.,The « good » Republicans are being systematically forced out of the party.
Delete"DeSantis is just as bad but smart and competent."
DeleteI don't think DeSantis's personality flaws are of the Trump scale. And I hope DeSantis and his family aren't as corrupt. But he seems to be a good deal more of a culture warrior than Trump was. Many Republicans hope that, in case Trump is deemed too toxic to win the nomination, DeSantis will bring Trump's voters out to the polls.
Today is the birthday of one of our European American grandchildren. They are all at the family home in Poland in the town where our son and his wife were married. No fireworks there tonight. I wonder what he will think about America when he grows up. He will see how we look from the outside- how Europeans see us. My husband and I have seen how America looks from afar. We inspire more sympathy than envy. I doubt that what he will see as he grows up will inspire patriotic sentiments for America, barring a miraculous turnaround from the course the US is on. He will have a choice. He has three citizenships, and will be fluent in three languages. I fully expect that the whole family will move to Europe within 3 years. My son has said that they can hardly wait to leave the US. There was a time when he was proud to be an American. Today’s mass shooting on his son’s birthday, on the nation’s birthday, is simply more evidence of the decline of the US. I don’t see much chance that the turnaround will happen. I am only celebrating one birthday today - my grandson’s. I am grateful that he and his brothers will have better options when they are adults.,
ReplyDeleteLast I heard, the European nations were also having their problems. Didn't Poland take a rightward swing in their last election? Seems like they have lately become more authoritarian. Not sure exactly how France's political system works, but Macron's position doesn't seem all that secure. And of course the UK is still dealing with Brexit. Grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence. Which is not to say that people shouldn't do what makes them happy, particularly if they have family where they are wanting to put down roots.
DeleteMy iPad ate my comment. I’ll try again tomorrow.
DeleteHungary's Viktor Orban is the darling of many on the American right looking for justification for Christian nationalism. Rod Dreher has this:
Deletehttps://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/who-is-viktor-orban/
Dreher, despite some asides, seems to be obsessed with the sexuality and gender stuff. Silly or not, and it strikes me as silly, I don't think of it as an existential threat to country or Church. There are many other things that are threats. Allying Church and State corrupts religion and makes it a tool of the state.
DeleteDreher uses a lot of anecdotes of the "I know lots of people who like Orban" type and drags out the "liberal media isn't fair" to Orban claim.
DeleteTo prove media bias, Dreher offers Orban's sidestepping of issues. One example: In defending his fence along the border, Orban protests that it's best to work to make countries livable so that immigrants can stay home. When people must flee, it is a given they must return there. None of that directly addresses his refusal to let immigrants move through or rest in Hungary. And all of it begs for Orban to explain what he us doing to alleviate the need for immigration, which he doesn't address. Underneath it all is verbiage that sets up immigrants as threats "trampling" across the landscape.
Dreher's defense seems weak to me, and I can only assume that Orban's conservative Christian stance forgives these types of prevarications because he doesn't want the country overrun with homos, nonChristians, and other outsiders.
I didn’t realize Dreher still has readers. He seemed to drift into a somewhat unreal world years ago. I guess I’ll read the article but it is not a surprise that he, a fanatic, is attracted to someone like Orban.
DeleteKatherine, my d-i-l is very unhappy about the government in Poland and equally unhappy with the role the Catholic Church plays in its influence on elections there and policies. They work hand in glove with the politicians there.
ReplyDeleteThey will live in France and visit Poland., French politics are a bit of a mess but it’s normal political mess. Basically true in the UK too. Plenty of problems in every country, but they are normal problems - not the kind we face which actually threaten our democracy. We are moving a lot closer to Hungary than to France. France continues to beat back the neo- fascists. We have failed to stop the extreme right wing faction in our country.
Quality of life in all of the Western European countries is better than the US for the professional middle, and working class middle folk. The rich are fine in all the countries, but everyone else is better off in the European countries. Also in Australia and New Zealand and some Asian countries. I know this from the data from my work in international econ, but also from observing these countries in daily life over many trips and many years, and in the last dozen or so years by experiencing it with our extended family and friends. A lot of Americans don’t think any country could be better to live in than our own, but they are wrong.
But people do prefer to stay with what they know. Leaving family and friends p, language, and the familiar culture isn’t easy. It will be pretty easy for my youngest son, and his wife though. . She’s European, and he’s lived outside the US for almost ten years. He now sees our country differently because he’s had lived experience with something better. The thing they want the most though is to live again in a country where they don’t have to fear sending their kids to school, or go shopping for groceries. The ten people killed in the mass shooting in Boulder two weeks before they moved there from Sydney were gunned down in a store 2 miles from their home. In 2020 there were app 270 gun deaths of all kinds (suicide, homicides, accidents) in Australia. Factoring in different population size, the comparable figure in the US would be roughly 3000 gun deaths. But the real number is almost 45,000 not 3000. Somewhat more than half in the US are suicides. Almost as many are homicides. There have been more than 300 mass shootings in the US this year so far since Jan 1. The rest are accidents and police shootings and « undetermined « . My son’s cousin and her husband were shot to death. The American gun culture is the tipping point for them. Also for our eldest. It will be harder for them. They aren’t fluent in Spanish. They will have a bigger cultural adjustment, learning to deal with a new bureaucracy in a foreign language. But they feel their children will be safer there. There is some racism but it’s seldom expressed violently. Micro aggressions don’t kill. They haven’t personally experienced any racism in their European travels over the years., The police don’t shoot people at the rate they do here. African American expat men who write blogs and articles don’t fear that they will be killed during a traffic stop in thé European countries where they now live. Health care is excellent and won’t cost them 5 figures/year in premiums, deductibles and copays. Cost of living in Spain is lower than California. They know their kids will have access to top notch education, even universities, at little to no cost. They are planning very carefully. They understand the higher taxes, but they know they will actually be getting a lot more in value for them there than they do here. They are again spending most of the summer in Spain. They hope to move there in 2-3 years. By then their Spanish should also be much improved.
Sometimes the grass that looks greener actually IS greener.
The mass murderer Crimo had a history of instability and violent ideation. Apparently, he was covered for by his father who even vouched for him so he could get a permit to biy guns. Parental support in some of these cases astounds me. A couple years ago, my friend M was once used as a reference for a firearms permit by a mutual acquaintance, a woman who has no business possessing a firearm. M said absolutely not, which put the kibosh on the permit. This person was recently admitted twice for anxiety problems and delusions.
ReplyDeleteI own a couple guns and consider them safe with me and me with them. But overall, people should not have these weapons. If they are banned, I'll destroy mine without regret.
The parents of Ethan Crumbley who shot four fellow students in Oxford, Mich, are up on accessory charges. The emerging story is that they made guns available to a kid who had asked them for help with mental problems and drew pictures of himself shooting classmates.
DeleteTypically these cases involving the parents of underage killers end in not guilty verdict. It will be interesting to see what happens here.
Really not sure why, if we can ban Tommy guns, we can't heavily restrict other types of rapid fire and extended magazine weapons that unstable kids gravitate to.
But Dan Bailey, GOP candidate told everybody to say a prayer and party on! So don't expect sense and defence to trump gun lobby $$ in our lifetime.
The almost 18 year old who killed my niece and her husband used one of his parents’ guns. His mother had posted photos of him shooting guns at a gun range. Gun culture was part of his family life. The guns in the home were unsecured even though the law required locking up guns in homes with minors. Plus he had a long history of mental illness and attraction to the neo-Nazis movement. His mom made racist jokes on her FB page. Apparently he once mowed a Nazi swastica into an empty field in his neighborhood. Parents who enable their kids in this way need to incur stiff penalties. I hope the Michigan case can set a national precedent.
DeleteThere are precedents for holding parents accountable for underage killers, but the burden of proof is stiff and varies by state.
DeleteThe NYT had a good recap of the charges against the Crumbleys and what the prosecution is up against.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/opinion/michigan-school-shooting-parents.html