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Patriotism is an ache for group significance. Within that group ache there is an unabated cry for individual achievement. Fundamental to both is the human need to be appreciated.
Chew on that a bit. I think you'll see that it's true.
Evolutionists will tell you, too, that patriotism springs from our innate sense that there is protection in numbers. Attachment and loyalty to a familiar group means survival.
So patriotism at its core is a good thing. It's a human thing...
I had the privilege of training many of the leaders of the city of Salem, Virginia just a few short weeks ago. Not that Salem. The one with the witch trials is in Massachusetts.
No, this Salem is nestled up against the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Roanoke River in the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.
And it's cradled in history.
The trainings took place in Salem's historical museum on the grounds of a great cemetery. This museum had actually been moved. Now, when I say "moved" I don't mean the contents of the museum had been moved, but the building itself was moved to its present location from another location. Mind boggling to me.
They then expanded the old building to create meeting space. And there I was. For me, a lover of history, it was like training in the womb of heaven.
During the hour-long lunch breaks I wandered through the museum, rummaging through Salem's heterogeneous history.
There were Civil War photographs and memorabilia, pieces of historical art, yellowed books and diaries, a room dedicated to an old amusement park now shuttered.
There was furniture. One piece in particular caught my eye. It's an old wooden chair that turns into a table and then back into a chair circa the 1800s.
I thought, who would need a table that turns into a chair? Surely some inventor was just showing off.
And then I read the little cardboard note tented on the wood seat. In the 1800s, most family dwellings were rather small, thus there was a premium on space. A piece of furniture that could have two functions would have great value. Pull the top from the back and you have a table. Slide it back and you have a big ol' sitting chair.
Ha! Necessity mothers invention again!
What struck me especially, though, as I bathed in the aura of all things Salem, is the pride it takes in its history, its uniqueness, its identity.
As well it should.
We all have this feeling to some degree about the places in which we live. It's a robust feeling of pride that announces to the world who we are and why we matter.
It's true that individually and collectively humans need to matter. Where's the value to living if we don't? We're unique and we have gifts to offer and we'd like other people to notice.
Danger arises, however, when we value ourselves while devaluing others.
When nations are too full of themselves wars erupt. When races or genders are too full of themselves they seek to dominate those they deem weaker and lesser. When a religion believes it has all the goods, it feels entitled to shun or consume all who don't believe as they do, sometimes violently. When business people are too full of themselves they become a cancer.
American exceptionalism itself is a slippery slope. I do believe our system is exceptional, better than anyone's I know of, imperfect and riddled with defects as it is. Our system creates a level of opportunity to its citizens that most others don't. That opportunity has created a level of achievement that's staggering.
But as human beings we are not exceptional simply because we live in America. We have no greater intrinsic value than any other people in any other country. We are not more intelligent, nor do we have more human potential. Science and common sense will tell you that.
So let's feel special. But not so special that it diminishes the specialness of others.
We've seen it play out on the great, tragic canvas that is the world: Patriotism is in itself normal, human and good. But patriotism run amuck is often catastrophic.
I love Salem, but if it starts throwing rocks at Roanoke, well, that's where I draw the line.
I'll be enjoying family next week so there will not be an Advisory. See you in two weeks! | 
