Nation 'America' meets 'State' America

I'm often confronted by an inner struggle that, I'm certain, many of us face from time to time. It's the futile attempt to reconcile principles that, at varying points, collide.

It is just one struggle, of many, for a globally-minded Christian who loves his country.

My nationalist fervor is dying--there, I said it. It's a slow death, to be sure, because I still do love my country. But this fervor, inasmuch as it still exists, scrapes against every intellectual fiber in my body.

Nationalism, for many, is a religion. It was, for me, for a large part of my life. The Bubble burst for me, however, after high school when I challenged myself to learn as much about the world as I could. The world, I found out, is a much bigger place than I had ever imagined.

The Nation/State binary

"So what?" has lately been my answer to this question: "What do you think about that video of Barack Obama with his hands to his sides during the national anthem?"

Or this: "Do you think Michelle Obama loves her country?"

Answer: "I don't know. Probably."

It's not my job nor it is my desire to gauge someone else's love of their country on the basis of minutiae about lapel pins or quotes without context--though I have set myself up for just such a characterization.

Since many (perhaps even most) Americans have been socialized to respond well to authority, increasing numbers of my fellow citizens do not make a point of departure between love of country and love of state.

There is, of course, a difference.

I love this country and its people. This is a resilient nation and one that has, historically, done a lot of good things for a lot of people in the world.

When I hear people say that America is the greatest country in the world, I'm not offended. It might be, but how am I to know? I've never lived anywhere else; but I don't want to, either.

The people who love America most, at least in my opinion, are those of us who are disgusted by the, for lack of a better term, state of the State.

People who do not support war, whether in Iraq or anywhere else, aren't anti-American across the board. Some might be, but not solely because of an anti-war stance.

Governments lie; states are corrupt.

The state is not America; it represents America, however poorly, in the world.

What Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice, et. al, have done to the security of our country with their disastrous foreign policy since 2000 is not an American tragedy. The American people have simply been along for the ride.

To have an opinion about it is not anti-American, though not having one certainly is.

Just as Christians are taught to love sinners and hate sins, I love this nation and hate the state.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12