Loving your country does not mean blindly following the government

Due to my beliefs, or I might say understanding, I have been accused of hating America. It doesn't stop there because the implications of that are astounding. If I hate America, I must want to destroy it, I must not love the people that comprise it, and I must also want them destroyed.

This couldn't be farther from the truth. Indeed, even I believed I hated America for a time, though I have come to realize that I am simply embarrassed by the policies and actions of my government and that my government is not my country.

The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence states:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...”

What has happened is that I do not give my consent to the government, and it is therefore unjust power they wield over me. Why do I not consent? Simply because the government as it exists no longer is following the constitution nor upholding the ideals that were set in the Declaration of Independence.

That is beyond the scope though of what I am trying to get across here, mainly that you can both fully disagree with the actions and policies of the government, that is, the authoritative body with the sole right to use force to enforce policies, while still loving the country that the government governs. In fact, Patriotism seems to be the opposite of apathy as applied to your fellow citizens. Therefore, the most patriotic among us are those that fight for the rights and interests of our brothers and sisters.

If I know, deep my in heart and with all the available logic and understanding available to me that the government is acting or planning to act in a way that brings harm to my fellow citizens either by physically hurting them or reducing their capacity to live a free and fulfilling life, am I not a patriot when I stand up make it known what they are doing? Am I not a patriot when I risk my reputation and wellbeing fighting against the status quo and inertia of false ideas?

The fact is, or at least it seems to me, that as Americans we have lost the distinction between our government and our country, and since we know our country is the greatest on earth by nearly every measure, or at least was for long enough for us to see it that way we look at any criticism of the government as absurd.

However, those of us able to separate and distinguish between the government and the country have a hard time loving the government, in exactly the same way it is hard to love a person who is dishonest and violent. And those who have a hard time or are unwilling to separate and distinguish between the government and the country likewise are unable to interpret basic facts about the actions of the government for what they are because those facts cannot coexist with a great nation of integrity, but rather a wicked, petty nation flexing its nuclear muscles and misleading its eager trusting citizens. But this paradox is solved simply by distinguishing between the wicked acts of government and the great country that is America.

The government is not simply a system or set of rules as to how the government will function. The constitution, our former President once noted, is just a “god damned piece of paper.” As brilliant and wise as it is, it is meaningless unless we follow it. In the same way, when those in power do not act in accordance with the constitution or use their power and influence to do wicked things, it does not change the constitution, it does not change the wisdom of our founding fathers. We simply have wicked people in office and in power doing things that are not in the best interest of the country.

It is not hard to see that the government is doing things that we as Americans should not be proud of, simply open your eyes. It is hard to come to terms and accept that it is happening. It is hard to incorporate this into a greater understanding of our world and our country. It is difficult to accept the responsibilities of what that means for us, the citizens of the United States of America, if our government is doing things that are not in the best interest of our country.