One expects to acquire a nugget of wisdom by reading the Great Literature or even by listening to NPR. One seldom expects to be enlightened by the newspaper's daily Cryptoquote.
Last Saturday's Cryptoquote was from Mark Twain, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." Well said, Mr Twain! If I disagree with the government's policies, it does not make me any less patriotic. Mark Twain took a stand against American occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. So did a lot of Filipinos. The US Army fought a low-grade guerilla war against the Moros for forty years. On the plus side, the Moros taught us the finer points of waterboarding.
"Real" patriots began boycotting and protesting Mark Twain's public appearances. His response became 2010's best Cryptoquote.
How can I tell when my government deserves my support, though? That's the tricky part. One answer is strict interpretation of the Constitution. After all, that's what government officials and the military swear "to uphold and defend." Of course at various times in our history, upholding the Constitution meant defending slavery and rejecting a woman's right to vote.
As I heard once in a sermon, the Bible should be taken seriously, but not literally. So should the Constitution. Its preamble talks about establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, and promoting the general welfare. How does Afghanistan and Obamacare fit into that?
Good people on both sides will disagree. But even with disagreement, we should never call the other side unpatriotic. Thanks for that, Mark Twain.
No comments:
Post a Comment