If Bill Clinton taught us anything, he taught us that words mean
different things to different people. To some, patriotism means driving the
speed limit and paying taxes. That definition doesn’t do it for me, however.
While I consider myself a law-abiding man, it must be noted that laws are
often nothing more than the tools of tyrants. Laws are no better or worse
than the men that make them. Furthermore, there is a higher law than any law
manufactured by man that must take preeminence in the patriot’s heart.
Submitting to laws that violate the
patriot’s conscience and encroach upon those liberties endowed to him by his
creator is not an act of patriotism; it is an act of treason.
The Apostle Peter said, “We must obey God rather than men.” Ben Franklin
said the same thing in a slightly different manner by saying, “Rebellion to
tyrants is obedience to God.” I agree.
It would seem, therefore, that I am not the patriot I should be. It
shames me to know that I have acquiesced to a myriad number of overreaching
and burdensome laws and regulations. I pay unconscionable and ungodly taxes,
the kind of which my ancestors would rather have died than paid. I submit to
rules and dictates that any freeman
should find nonsensical and asinine.
Americans today know freedom only in part. With scores of federal
law-enforcement agencies employing nearly 100,000 gun-toting, badge-carrying
agents forcing us to bow down to tens of thousands of decrees and dictates,
we are more like subjects than citizens. Yet, we wave the flag and pretend
that we are patriotic. Our Forefathers sacrificed their lives and fortunes
over far less usurpation.
Neither is patriotism simply a warm and fuzzy feeling that comes on us
every July 4th. Part of our problem today is that all we know is a feel-good
citizenship coupled with the feel-good religion. Like discipleship,
citizenship is arduous labor. Freedom is not free and spirituality is not
cheap. The person who squanders either is extremely foolish.
First of all, patriotism means being responsible for my actions. It means
being willing to own up to my misconduct. It means apologizing when
necessary. If I was at fault, it might even mean compensating for someone’s
loss. It is what our Founding Fathers called self-government. There can be
no lasting freedom without it.
Patriotism means giving to society something that will make it better.
Patriots are givers, not takers. They recognize that society owes them
nothing; they owe society something. The welfare state that has been created
in this country is as un-American as it can be! That also applies to the
spirit of hedonism and licentiousness that is running
rampant in our land. Both are cancers that eat out our liberty.
Finally, patriotism demands that we stand up for the fundamental
principles upon which our nation was built, including moral responsibility,
freedom of conscience and limited government. It means learning our history
and heritage. It means putting principle before profit and putting
conviction before convenience. It means shouldering responsibility for my
family’s well being. It might mean shouldering a firearm for my nation’s
liberty.
Whatever else it means, patriotism is a debt I owe to my nation and my
God. It is a debt that cannot be paid in part; it must be paid in full,
whatever the cost.