April 17, 2013 6:27 AM

Love of country is one thing...but do we need to teach nationalism?

SALEM — A House committee has approved a bill calling for the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited daily in Oregon public classrooms. It would also require classrooms to display the American flag. Under Oregon law, schools must give students the opportunity to say the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week. The bill approved unanimously on Friday would require schools to do so daily.

Like most of my generation, I grew up saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. It was drilled into my pointy little skull, so much so that I can still recite it if pressed to do so (and no, you can’t ask).

Then I went to the former Yugoslavia during the war there and learned firsthand what unfettered and unchecked nationalism can produce. A country that had once peacefully co-existed (though admittedly under the iron hand of Josip Broz Tito), had disintegrated into a collection of independent republics…but not before engaging in one of the most brutal and inhuman wars of the latter half of the 20th century. Serbs killed Croats and Muslims. Croats killed Serbs and Muslims. Muslims, who most just wanted to be left alone, fired back at anyone who came to kill them. Within Serbia, the majority Albanian population of Kosovo was persecuted by the Serb minority (they were the ones with the guns).

Today, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovenia are independent countries. Despite that, peace is not the rule. Kosovo’s restive and violent Serb minority is demanding union with Serbia. Being a Serb in Croatia, or a Croat in Serbia, is still a dangerous and difficult thing. All is not good, and likely won’t be for quite some time.

All of this stemmed from virulent nationalism based on religious faith. It’s what allowed Serbs who told me stories about going into Bosnia on the weekends to “hunt Muslims” to justify indiscriminate murder of those they viewed as subhuman. It’s what allowed Serb paramilitaries to massacre Croat civilians. It’s what allowed Croats to do the same to Serb civilians, albeit to a much lesser degree.

That’s a rambling explanation of why I’m so opposed to a bill in the Oregon Legislature that would mandate daily recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s a bad idea all the way around. Instead of teaching children to love their country (which is really a parental responsibility) and respect people in other countries, the legislature is on the verge of mandating that children be indoctrinated in American Exceptionalism.

Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism when hatred for people other than your own comes first.

  • Charles de Gaulle

Before anyone writes me off as a wooly-headed, out of touch Liberal, think about what’s been done in the name of nationalism just since the beginning of the 20th century. The list is long and illustrative of the damage that can be done when the hatred of other people supplants the love of your own people.

I’m not asking or advocating for the teaching of One World Government…though I suspect some will try and convict me of exactly that in their own minds. I’m not pushing the idea that we should consider ourselves citizens of the world first and America second…though that’s not a bad idea. No, what I’m asking for is that we not indoctrinate children by requiring them to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Let’s teach them love of country without the rote recitation of a paean to nationalism.

Yes, I understand the law says that no student can be compelled to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Realistically, though, we all know what peer pressure, as well as pressure from teachers and administrators, can do. For some students, opting out, even if they’re so inclined, simply won’t be a reasonable option.

This is a truly very, very bad idea. I would have expected better from the Oregon legislature, which surely has much bigger problems to deal with than enforcing the indoctrination of our children with a mandatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s a sign of laziness that demonstrates that, when it comes to patriotism and nationalism, Oregon schools should be allowed to take the easy way out.

WE DESERVE BETTER.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on April 17, 2013 6:27 AM.

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