The whole Rev. Wright controversy has got me thinking. What is a Patriot? Seems to me that a lot of the criticism of Rev. Wright was the "unpatriotic nature" of his comments; that he was condemning the country he lives in. As a family member asked, "if they don't like it, why are they here?" The questions is what is a Patriot? Is the definition implied in the quote above is that unconditional love of country? If so, many of the old prophets were unpatriotic.
Take my favorite personality in the Book of Mormon, Abinadi.
Mosiah 11:20 states, "And it came to pass there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi...." So we know that Abinadi was a citizen of that Nephite kingdom.
What was the nature of Abinadi's message to the people? Mosiah 12:2 states, " Yea, wo be unto this generation! And the Lord said unto me: Stretch forth thy hand and prophesy, saying: Thus saith the Lord, it shall come to pass that this generation, because of their iniquities, shall be brought into abondage, and shall be smitten on the bcheek; yea, and shall be driven by men, and shall be slain; and the vultures of the air, and the dogs, yea, and the wild beasts, shall devour their cflesh."
This is a very serious message. Imagine what would happen to a prominent preacher would say that our cournty will be devoured by wild beast! But, this is what Abinadi was doing.
Sounds unpatriotic to me!? Then, if we go through the Bible and the Book of Mormon, many of the prophets would be considered unpatriotic.
Is that right, or is our concept of patriotism wrong?
4 comments:
I really enjoy reading your rants. thanks for sharing Julio.
Excellent question. Franz and I have been discussing it. We will post more later!
Here is the etymology of the word patriot. (I thought it was an interesting side note.)
patriot
1596, "compatriot," from M.Fr. patriote (15c.), from L.L. patriota "fellow-countryman" (6c.), from Gk. patriotes "fellow countryman," from patrios "of one's fathers," patris "fatherland," from pater (gen. patros) "father," with -otes, suffix expressing state or condition. Meaning "loyal and disinterested supporter of one's country" is attested from 1605, but became an ironic term of ridicule or abuse from mid-18c. in England, so that Johnson, who at first defined it as "one whose ruling passion is the love of his country," in his fourth edition added, "It is sometimes used for a factious disturber of the government."
"The name of patriot had become [c.1744] a by-word of derision. Horace Walpole scarcely exaggerated when he said that ... the most popular declaration which a candidate could make on the hustings was that he had never been and never would be a patriot." [Macaulay, "Horace Walpole," 1833]
Somewhat revived in ref. to resistance movements in overrun countries in WWII, it has usually had a positive sense in Amer.Eng., where the phony and rascally variety has been consigned to the word patrioteer (1928). Oriana Fallaci ["The Rage and the Pride," 2002] marvels that Americans, so fond of patriotic, (1757) patriot, and patriotism (1726), lack the root noun and are content to express the idea of patria by cumbersome compounds such as homeland. (Joyce, Shaw, and H.G. Wells all used patria as an Eng. word early 20c., but it failed to stick.)
Horace Walpole! A great Gothic author. We visited his house in London - Strawberry Hill. Just a side note.
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