The debate over Christian nationalism has made some Christians sheepish about extolling the virtues of being American. It’s time to reclaim patriotism as a Christian virtue.
As an American who grew up amid the Cold War, patriotism had an obvious attraction. Who wouldn’t prefer the United States of America, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, free markets, belief in God, and rock and roll over the gray, atheistic, materialistic totalitarianism of the Soviet Union. Looking back, I think I can safely say that the public schooling I had in the 1970s and 80s, and even much of popular culture, was tilted toward encouraging me to think that way. When the Berlin Wall fell, it felt like both the removal of an existential threat and a grand vindication.
But that was then and this is now. Although the United States appeared to emerge both triumphant and ascendent in terms of military prowess, economics, and values in the early 90s, that brief period of nearly unchallenged unipolarity has receded. Our post-9/11 efforts to combat terrorism and bring democracy and freedom to Afghanistan and Iraq largely came to grief, with much loss of blood, treasure, and prestige. In addition, the seemingly obvious idea that opening up trade with China would enrich everyone and contribute to the growth of liberal democracy there has also foundered. China got rich but with much more ambiguous results for the rest of the world. We thought China would emulate Hong Kong but has instead rolled back human rights in that great city. At best, the U.S. gained a frenemy. At worst, we’ve laid our own Thucydides trap by enabling a rising power to become our greatest rival. And post–Soviet Russia hasn’t worked out all that well either.
Dan Darling has noticed. In his new book, In Defense of Christian Patriotism, he notes that patriotism in the U.S. is far from what it was among both Christians and the domestic population more broadly. Darling also observes that the decline of patriotism is even more pronounced among the young. Americans are far less sure of themselves and their country than they once were. Rather than shaking his head solemnly, taking a metaphorical knee, and agreeing with the cultured despisers of patriotism both sacred and secular, Darling mounts a defense of patriotism and specifically of Christian patriotism.
He begins by recognizing some of the pressures and challenges that exist with regard to patriotism. Disenchantment has grown on both sides of the spectrum. On the right, pro-lifers have long been repelled by the tremendous power the abortion lobby has been able to exert in public affairs. Even after the end of Roe, opponents of abortion have been forced to accept that restricting the practice is an uphill battle in retail politics. The deep roots and valorization of abortion have strained many strong pro-lifers’ affection for their country, especially when they often feel they not only must continue to fight the left but also keep their own side from giving up. Similar effects have followed from the continued growth of the revolution in human sexuality. On the left, many Americans are repulsed by America’s military adventures since the 1960s and the panoply of other flaws they identify in American society. A single training session in critical theory would detail those grievances nicely.
Many Christians, of course, are becoming more aware of issues such as whether it makes sense to have American flags in churches and to what degree love for their nation is biblical or has a distorting effect on their moral and spiritual compass. Quotes such as Stephen Decatur’s famous “My country, be she ever right or wrong, my country” can give pause to those who wonder whether such an attachment is wise, healthy, or, again, biblical.
Darling is less reticent when it comes to love for his country. Like Augustine, he recognizes the tension that results from the city of God traveling alongside and within the city of man, but also like Augustine he recognizes that Christians can be excellent citizens when not compelled to perform acts of impiety. To this end, Darling spends part of the second half of the book detailing how Christians can aid American civil society by building strong families, serving in churches and nonprofit ministries, and getting heavily involved in both public and private schooling. This point has long been part of Darling’s response to over-the-top criticism aimed at conservative Christians. He strongly believes the evidence shows they are a positive influence on the Maritainian body politic.
In the era in which I grew up, American history was often celebrated. I still have fond memories of the American bicentennial activities in 1976. Contemporary students are more likely to receive an insistent and detailed exploration of their nation’s faults such as are to be found in the 1619 Project.
While it is appropriate to avoid something like a hagiographic narrative about the nation, its founders, and its heroes, the deconstruction should be accompanied by appreciation where it is due. Darling identifies something that most Americans know whether or not they ever get around to stating it: They are ultimately grateful to live in the United States and not somewhere else, and are not eager to give up the lottery ticket of birth that placed them here. Though it would complicate the argument that seeks to cut the American colossus down to size, the simple fact is that it is good to be a citizen of this country. Darling is careful to point out that what we may know instinctively but often forget is blatantly obvious to our nation’s immigrants. They want to be here because this is a good country in which to live. We are largely secure from outside invasion. Our laws have general application. And we are free: free to worship, free to speak, free to pursue our various vocations and thrive.
As I read Darling’s book, something else occurred to me that is not mentioned often enough when it comes to tallying the American score. When we look at the history of the 20th century, it is fair to say that the outcome could well have been different without the United States. The U.S., through its resistance in both World War II and the subsequent Cold War, probably made the decisive contribution to defeating totalitarianism at the end of the last millennium. We have many national sins, but we have also impressively fought to preserve liberty and modeled its virtues in our national life by establishing a vibrant, flourishing society with great opportunity and relative wealth. Despite our failures, it can fairly be said that we have progressively realized the promise of the Declaration.
Darling ends the book with a stirring call to national unity as he discusses the restoration of “E Pluribus Unum.” He points to George Washington’s Farewell Address and his warning about a great danger to the republic, which was “party spirit.” We might also think of The Federalist Papers and their description of the threat posed by factions. In Washington’s mind, this partisanship, bent upon domination, would eat away at the habits and temperament associated with liberty and lead in the direction of the rule of one individual. Across the ages, we might perceive an invisible link between Washington and Hayek on this point. It seems to me that Darling is pointing us to a lesson our founders understood well, which is that liberty is not long to persist among us without a parallel exercise of virtue. For Darling, then, the patriotism he would defend is one of love for one’s country great enough to incorporate restraint of our political ambitions.
