On Patriotism

Patriotism — love for or devotion for one’s own country. (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Usually, this subject is one that I try hard to avoid. It’s mostly due to the fact that in most cases, when I talk to someone about it, I end up thoroughly embarrassed–a feeling that from there, quickly turns to shame and silence. You see, I am not able to be patriotic…

I remember (with horrific detail) a conversation I had last year with a buddy of mine at Belmont during a particularly rainy day outside. He asked me whether or not, in a time of war, I would go and fight for the U.S. if I was called upon to do so. I couldn’t find it within myself to say I would. He shook his head at me in disgust. Feeling dishonorable in all regards, I remember picturing Uncle Sam walking up to me, spitting in my face, calling me a sissy, and pushing me into the mud.

I also remember being made to stand up, lay my hand on my heart, and say the pledge of allegiance every school morning for the first 18 years of my life. Sometimes, very secretly, I would feel strangled, terrified, suffocated. Some days I would only mouth the words, too afraid to use my voice. I didn’t want to pledge my allegiance to a nylon flag waving in the English Literature classroom every morning.

Now please don’t get me wrong–I certainly didn’t choose to be this way. There isn’t any sort of problem with my attitude or my upbringing (not in this subject, anyway). I, like many other people, just feel an inclination to place my allegiance in a different sort of place.

I can almost imagine Wormwood reading a letter from his uncle about such a topic:

My dear Wormwood,

It has come to my knowledge that your patient has recently become much too thankful concerning the place in which he lives. You realize, of course, that thankfulness is another weapon the Enemy uses against us, and must be perverted immediately.

This can be done simply enough–draw him to one of two extremes: ungratefulness or patriotism.

First, you may try to pull him towards the side of ungratefulness, but know that it is the more difficult option of the two. Start by calling to mind all the injustices of war–make him remember warriors like Napoleon and Custer, even if they weren’t born in his own country. Then, make him remember the Crusades and the faults of his own kind. By emphasizing these things, you cause him in his heart to separate himself from his country, hopefully calling his thankfulness into question as well.

Now listen carefully–this is a dangerous spot to keep him; you mustn’t let him dwell there long! Quickly turn his doubts to bitterness. Make every crack in the foundation of his ancestry a canyon to him, and soon he will only ever be thinking about how terrible life is in his homeland, and how he wishes he could live some place else. This is covetousness at its very best, my friend! It will prove a very powerful and lingering distraction.

Perhaps even more lingering however, (and like I said before, easier) is the blindness of patriotism.

Here is the main difference: in the first option, to induce ungratefulness, you target his thankfulness. Here, in order to invoke patriotism you must target his pride. (I’m sure you are aware of such things already, but please make certain to differentiate between thankfulness and pride here. Both are used as very different tools by the Enemy, and though they are useful to His campaign, you must remember that they are always susceptible to corruption!) The next and probably most important step is to entangle him with his country’s politics. Prod him to be overly active in such things. Find him a good politician to support with many of his resources (or better yet, oppose). By doing this, you provoke the patient to swallow your hook–then you must set it.

Soon, whether he realizes it or not, he should start to feel a certain “belonging” to his country. Encourage this! I cannot over-emphasize that point! If the politician he supports works in ways he agrees with, have him say, “This is the best thing to happen to our nation.” If the politician he opposes begins to pull ahead in the polls, let him be heard saying, “Our nation deserves better.” Encourage him to pledge himself to his country as much as possible, even if the pledges only come out half-hearted (a man’s lips are the back door to his mind). Have him join a political group with like-minded people. Annoy him with news of opposing groups and goad him to leave resentful messages about his outrage on his Facebook status. Then, when the politician he opposes wins the vote, you will know when he says, “I should surely move if I wasn’t so attached to this place,” that the hook is set, and you may reel him in. This way, both his pride and his thankfulness are captured, and the patient can no longer think about dwelling with the Enemy as he is overwhelmingly focused on dwelling properly in his own country on the Earth.

Now listen even closer, nephew, because here is where pride beats unthankfulness in all circumstances. Once you have cultivated his patriotism, pair it with his faith. I know this no doubt as sounds ridiculous to you as it does to me–after all, those two things are quite opposites when a man has faith in one place and patriotism in another! However, a surprisingly substantial amount of the humans surrounding your patient pair these two things up as if they were high school sweethearts waiting to be married. How blind are they! You must encourage this also. If he associates patriotism as a companion to faith, the latter being, in his mind, always good and necessary in his own life, why should he ever consider divorcing them? Then, patriotism will become second nature to him, leaving his mind (himself unknowing) split between wanting two different things. That’s when you must begin to bend his faith down the path his patriotism took. But that’s another lesson altogether; I will wait to advise you once I hear news of the course you choose to take for the time being. Be swift and cunning, young one!

Your affectionate uncle,

Screwtape