by Carol Shaw-Sutton

Created on: February 04, 2009   Last Updated: February 05, 2009

I've always been of the opinion that patriotism is a fanatical thing. I've never been patriotic. This doesn't mean to say that I don't appreciate my culture, heritage, background, and so forth, only that I am not, and never have been patriotic.

The reason behind this could be because my parents both come from different countries on opposite ends of the earth, and I was born in a different country than both of them, and now have become yet another member of a different country since then. Because of this, I have different citizenships, along with relatives from different countries, and so I don't think that I ever felt tied down to any particular place or ever had that sense of patriotism.

Honestly, I think patriotism is akin to religious fanaticism. Along with religion, it is the main reason for wars of all kinds. Now, I am not saying that people cannot preserve their heritage or culture, not at all, what I don't believe in is blind and fervent patriotism that places PRIDE before justice and honour. We can be patriotic, but to a point. We cannot be patriotic when it diverts us away from certain truths. If a country is participating in atrocious acts against another country or individual, for example, should we just continue to engage in blind patriotism and ignore what is going on? Would it be right to ignore the real issue in lieu of of out patriotism?

We must also ask ourselves, how far are we willing to go to be patriotic? During World War Two, what if the people refused to be patriotic? It probably would have saved a lot of lives. But let's go back further, to the times of the Spanish inquisition, another very dark period of human history. What if the Spanish hadn't partaken of the dire blend of both religious and political/patriotic fanaticism? Again, it would have saved many lives. To some degree, governments can use a sense of patriotism to control their people.

When people are no longer able to reason and use their emotions as the sole basis for any and all decisions made, expect trouble to follow. We are currently living in this kind of society, where fervent patriotism and emotions sometimes blurs reality, and the truth; but I think that people are beginning to wake up now after the rule of Bush, who totally destroyed our economy and society in just a few years. Let's hope that Obama can fix the problem now. It's unrealistic to hope, but I still want to think he can do something about it.

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