patriotism sucks.

I first heard Bin Laden was dead tonight as I took a really sweet stroll around The Plaza with a really sweet person. I was stopped by a KMBC news cameraman, and he asked me “What do you think about the news that Bin Laden is dead?” I, of course, hadn’t yet heard the news, as I was too busy enjoying a beautiful Sunday. I muttered a few half-interested things about 9-11 and about how most people probably think he’s dead anyways. I wanted to make a “wasn’t he just at the Royal Wedding?” joke, but didn’t.

I really hate patriotism. The backlash of ignorant commentary and opinion about the death of Bin Laden on Twitter tonight was disheartening, and I’m so very glad I deleted my Facebook so I didn’t have to gaze upon the even more ignorant statuses of “patriots” glad about the death of another human being.

While I don’t have any specific commentary on the death of Bin Laden, the incident and its subsequently caused stupidity stirred a few musings inside me. Here you go.

-   To the “Christian” right or not so very right: Since when did Jesus’ command of “love your neighbor as yourself” become contingent on when somebody else wrongs you? Since when did Jesus say it was okay to enact revenge or rejoice in vengeance? I think the most “Christian” response to the death of another human being, even one who committed the atrocities Bin Laden did, would be to gracefully meditate on ways we personally as people and a church still have sin; sin which makes us just as evil as a man who killed so many.

-   I don’t know if it’s legal to burn flags, but I think it should be okay. American patriots talk about the flag as a symbol of our country…but they only want it to symbolize the good parts. What about the genocide of the Native Americans? What about slavery? What about Japanese internment camps? What about continued persecution of homosexuals? What about the atomic bomb? I think a flag should symbolize the reality of what a country is and does. In that case, a person should be able to burn a flag if they are doing it in defiance of evil.

-   I saw on Twitter that a few people were talking about how Hitler and Bin Laden’s death were both reported on May 1st. What an ignorant comparison, even if it is ironic. You know who else died on May 1st? John Dryden. That makes me sad. But really….Hitler was an architect of a hateful movement of genocide and dominance that caused the death of 6 million Jews, thousands of homosexuals and disabled, and even more soldiers. What Bin Laden did is not even comparable to the atrocity of the Holocaust. Don’t be incendiary. Don’t be an idiot.

-   Hitler and the Nazi party do have a part to play in this discussion, however. It’s because the American people look kind of similar. Nationalism was at the core of Nazism, and seeds of patriotism like the ones planted by people chanting “USA, USA, USA!” at another man’s death begin to blossom into blind nationalism rather quickly. Don’t put your hope or pride in a country. It’s nice to live here, but look beyond it.

-   The hypocrisy of Americans rejoicing in Bin Laden’s death is infuriating. We’re a country who will wave flags when a man is killed, but passively stand by as dictators across the world slay their own people, as folks don’t have clean water, as children die of disease and starvation. 5,000 of “our” people were killed in 9-11? Who are “our” people? Can’t we all just be people? Can’t we  care about souls rather than flags and geographic boundaries?

I’m not going to love a country, or a government, or a way of life. I’m going to love a cause. I’m going to love Good News and put my hope and faith and joy in it.

When another man dies, even though he’s an evil man, it won’t bring me pleasure or closure, but point me towards more conversation and meditation -  and hopefully action – in doing my part to reconcile the brokenness of our world.