Patriotism and Piety
  by Dr. David Eller

Since 9/11, there has been a predictable surge of patriotic passion in this country. Being attacked always fosters feelings of communal solidarity. Some people, however, have seized the occasion to push their own brand of patriotism, which often includes religious (in particular, Christian) piety. Such people forget that what makes America unique and strong is not its religion but its freedom and diversity and that what makes certain other countries dangerous is their irrational blending of politics and faith.

Now we are told by State Senator John Andrews that Colorado's children need training in patriotism, civic duty, and American uniqueness. Has he noticed a lack of these qualities that the rest of us have missed? And naturally, part of his agenda is to compel students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, which in itself is not a problem, except that since 1954 the Pledge has spuriously contained the phrase "under God." A significant portion of the American population does not believe in this God, which is, explicitly or implicitly, the Christian god. Would Andrews be equally eager to mandate the Pledge if it referred to America as one nation "under Allah" or "under Vishnu" or "under Buddha"? If Andrews would like to return it to the schools, he could consider returning it to its pre-1954 form, when it emphasized our unity, liberty, and justice but ignored sectarian beliefs.

But there is a bigger matter to ponder. Andrews writes that "our enemies run schools to teach their kids America should be hated and attacked." He does not describe these schools in any detail, but we can briefly describe them here: in countries like Afghanistan, they are called madrasas, and they are institutions where religion is the sole curriculum. Students (male only) slavishly study the scriptures under teachers (male only) who are as ignorant of the world of science and liberal arts as they are hostile to America. What makes those schools, those students, those countries weak and fanatical is their aversion to knowledge and their blind indoctrination to religion.

American schools are not under imminent threat of becoming like the Taliban's schools, but there are those in our society who would move in that general direction-less hard science, less liberal studies, less critical analysis, more traditional morality and scriptural authority. That path, quite clearly, creates a more conformist and fanatical student and population, but is this really the kind of Americans we want to produce? Instead of more pledges and prayers, more indoctrination and symbolic expression, America needs more strong education, more science, more critical thinking, more objective history. American students will learn that what makes this country worthy of respect and protection is its commitment to freedom, its tolerance of diversity, and its willingness to see itself clearly, warts and all.

Recent months have shown that Americans do not lack patriotism, although they may not show it every day of the year. Of course we should teach American history, civic duty, and values to our students. But this history shows that our civic duty has always been to represent the values of liberty, individuality, and above all reason, from all threats. Those, and not the things Senator Andrews wants, are what he calls the "small things with big significance for the survival of these United States."

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