Anonymous (via GotQuestions)
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Danny Hickman
As we can see from the various opinions about this question, there is no one right answer to a question like this one. I think the first thing to do is determine the right meaning of patriotic. I don't think it means "supportive of the nation of Israel." But let's check.
Patriotic ~ 1) a person who loves, supports, and defends their country and its interests with devotion. (Dictionary.com)
2) a person who values individual rights, especially one who attempts to defend those rights against presumed interference by the federal government.
The first meaning wouldn't have gone over well in the slave quarters where my ancestors lived for hundreds of years. Many of them were Christians; they prayed their way out of it, clean through a hundred years of Jim Crow lynchings and beyond.
The second meaning completely ignores the fact that there are state governments that interfere with the individual rights of citizens; it singles out the federal government.
Should a Christian in North Korea be patriotic? Should he "love, support, and defend North Korea and its interests with love and devotion"? (I got nothing against Christians in North Korea).
If I was living there, I'd pray God's will for the nation, but that's all! Love NK? Love oppression? Willingly to die to defend it?
It's easy to say you love your homeland when your homeland is loving you back. I ain't that easy to claim the same, truthfully, when it doesn't. Maybe some can claim to be that strong in the faith. I CAN'T!
Danny Hickman
I wanna be clear; I was in the United States Army during the war in Vietnam. I didn't go to Vietnam, but I'm a Vietnam era veteran. I wasn't drafted, I joined. I don't have to love this government to stand with the people of this country.
There's the people of the community; the local church; the school system; the home teams.
I "love, support, and will defend" all of that, and give the government a pass. Sometimes, some people 'don't know what they do' (Luke 23:34).
I wanted to show up back in the day. This country is the only country the African American community has.
(On a scale from 1 to 10 with ten being the highest level of patriotism, considering all of which we've had to excuse our fellow citizens and the United States government, I'd rate the African American community's patriotism to be somewhere in the vicinity of a 12!!)
Should a Christian be patriotic? One size will never fit everybody!!