What is a patriot?

Here in the United States, our national celebration of independence has come and gone, along with all of the fireworks, bunting, and discount mattress sales which have come to be associated with it. You may note that I did not call it 'the 4th of July;' that is simply the date upon which falls the national holiday known officially as Indepedence Day. This is an important distinction to me, although I will not press my opinion upon others.

That's really the point, isn't it? This is a country founded upon a simple and unifying principle: freedom. The freedom to be who and what we want to be, to do (without infringing upon the freedom of others) what we want to do, to worship whatever deity (if any) we so choose, and to say whatever we want to say. The documents drawn up to ensure such rights have a lot of necessary boilerplate attached to them, but that's what it comes down to: freedom.

Despite whatever may be wrong with it at any given time, I love my country. I cherish the freedom afforded to me by my nationality. I consider myself, all political affiliations aside, to be a true patriot. Yet I recently took part in an interesting discussion in which I was accused, for various reasons, of being unpatriotic. So what is a patriot? 

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a patriot as thus: a person who vigorously supports their country and is ready to defend it against enemies or detractors.

By that definition, I entirely qualify. I even love my country's insignia, though I am not normally one given to the worship of symbols. I own a high-quality American Flag, and when I display it I do so in strict accordance to the traditional protocol of respect. I've even been known to lecture those who break that protocol; for some reason, it just pisses me off to see a flag mistreated. I really frown upon those who wrap themselves in a flag or wear one like a cape. The honor of being draped with our national ensign is reserved solely for those who have given service to the nation, and even then only posthumously. But I've gotten off the topic.

Yes, I was accused of being unpatriotic. Why? Because I objected to the practice of coercing children to say the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. As stated above, I love and respect my country's flag, but I think it's ridiculous that children should be taught to begin each day by praying to it. That's right, I said praying. I think it was that statement that this person took such issue with, for their response was to tell me, with no small amount of profanity, that the Pledge of Allegiance was part of the U.S. Constitution and a national tradition. In fact, the Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by a Baptist minister (and card-carrying Socialist) as what he called a 'secular prayer' used to open his non-denominational services. It languished in obscurity until 1942, when it was instituted in schools and government buildings to promote national unity during World War Two. In 1956, at the urging of President Eisenhower and the Knights of Colombus, the words 'under God' were added, presumably as a dig against those "godless red commie bastards" who were, at the time, our nation's greatest enemy. Unfortunately, my patient delivery of this short history lesson fell on deaf ears.

As this quite public discussion went on, I was not only branded unpatriotic and un-American, but I was also told that I was a threat to the values of this country, that I should never be allowed to have children of my own or be in contact with other people's children, and that if I didn't like what was going on in this country, then I should "pack (my) ____ing bags and get the hell out!" (My cousin's wonderful comeback to this was "who appointed you the Deportation Fairy?")

I don't go out of my way to publicly humiliate the ignorant and hypocritical, but I must confess to taking great delight in helping them do it to themselves.

So here is my opinion: anyone who wishes to brand themselves a patriot should A) obtain at least a basic working knowledge of their country's history and fundamental ideals, B) be prepared to debate the meaning of said ideals in a civil and open-minded exchange, and C) learn the difference between patriotism and nationalism.

To do any less would be downright unpatriotic, don't you think?