Rejecting Nationalism on July 4th
The following excepts are from an article written by Howard Zinn on the dangers of nationalism. (HT to Donna Aros for posting it on facebook). You can read the whole article here: Put Away the Flags
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.
Is not nationalism — that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder — one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred?
These ways of thinking — cultivated, nurtured, indoctrinated from childhood on — have been useful to those in power, and deadly for those out of power.
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Our citizenry has been brought up to see our nation as different from others, an exception in the world, uniquely moral, expanding into other lands in order to bring civilization, liberty, democracy.
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We need to refute the idea that our nation is different from, morally superior to, the other imperial powers of world history.
We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation.
Throughout the article, Zinn discusses the atrocities that have been committed in the name of Nationalism. His argument for an allegiance to humanity is challenging.
For those of us who follow the teachings of Christ, we have another — much greater — reason to reject nationalism: Our citizenship is not here, but to the Kingdom of God. This citizenship calls us not to dominance and defense, but to submission and to participation in the restoration and redemption of all things.
I could wax on about the dangers of nationalism and an americocentric understanding of the world, but instead, I will simply say that my identity as a participant in the Kingdom of God is exponentially more important than my place of residence or my county of origin.