Love isn’t Perfect or Blind

What really makes us free

Photo by Anthony Garand on Unsplash

I love my country. I don’t love it because it is perfect. I loved (and still love) my parents. Were they perfect? No, they were flawed people just like all of us, trying to do their best. My dad and I had struggles, especially in my teen years. My mom was a saint, but not perfect, and I know that we would not agree on everything. But I loved them. Because they tried to do their best and they loved me.

My wife and I have been married for 30 years, come December. Are we perfect? No. If love required perfection I would never have been married. I am far from perfect, but we love each other despite our inperfections. Anyone who looks at marriage through rose colored glasses is sorely mistaken.

But sometimes we tend to do that with our nation. We gloss over the faults and proclaim, as one radio host often does “this is the greatest nation on God’s green earth”. Just like proclaiming the GOAT about any athlete it is as flawed and blind, and history ignorant. And it is an insult to the people’s of the world, who all at one time or another might state and feel the same about their country.

I do not love my country because it is the best, the greatest ever, with the strongest military ever (Rome and other countries-including China, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany might beg to differ). And our freedom is not built on military might alone. Those others were strong militarily, but they were not free.

There is a reason why I don’t have the usual “patriotic” symbols at the top of this article. I highlight the US Constitution. “We the People” is a necessary reminder of a couple things. One, the owe are the ones who make the decisions here, not some amorphous “government”. We are the ones who elect those who represent us in the nation’s capital. It is up to us to make the right decisions, like on November 5th, to keep our nation strong. Two, it is the laws, the recognized rights, the checks and balances of our government, that keep us free.

The President does not take an oath to protect the nation, to keep us militarily strong or economically viable. He or she (hopefully some day) take a pledge to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”. It is vital for us to remember that.

I mean no disrespect to those who faithfully serve our country and put their lives on the line. I had great-grandfathers at Gettysburg and Vicksburg on this date risking their lives to preserve the Union. My paternal grandfather most like missed the birth of his son because he was fighting with the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in WWI. But without the Constitution to defend it’s just war.

So, no flag on my post -the national anthem was not formally adopted by the US until 1931. The pledge of allegiance was not formally adopted until 1942 and our current version came about only 2 years before I was born (1954). The constitution was adopted in 1791 and is a legacy of our democracy that helps us stand strong.

Nothing is perfect, including the country I love. I do not love it because it is perfect. I do not shy away from examing its history and flaws and failure often to live up to stated pledges -like the Declaration of Independence. I am committed to push it and its citizens to grow stronger, wiser, and working to make up for the mistakes of the past. I love that I am surrounded by others who are committed to helping it grow, because when you love someone or something you want to help them be better.

The bottom line is I love my country because it is HOME.