Patriotism: A 2nd Opinion

SEKHMET SPEAKS - Part Five

PATRIOTISM: A SECOND OPINION

Normally Sekhmet pays little attention to politics, regarding it essentially as an exercise in futility ... But one overlooked aspect of the current American political scene has caught her eye. The scenario is familiar to all. The American president (and also Grand Sheriff) George W. Bush has thrown down his philosophical gauntlet, declaring, 'If you ain't with us, you're agin' us'. He and his posse brand all those "agin' "as 'unpatriotic.' Alleged unpatriotism is equated with 'aiding the terrorists', effectively treason. The accused deny the charge, staunchly defending their patriotism; citing dissent as the very essence of patriotism. This confrontation interests, bemuses and yet saddens Sekhmet, for she finds that no one, not one politician, no journalist, no TV commentator, no one anywhere --as far as she is able to determine-- has bothered to look at patriotism itself. So she has taken that look and reports:

Patriotism is not a virtue; it is a pathological condition. Patriotism provides a surrogate soul for nonentities who have never developed souls of their own. (Yes, Virginia, there is a soul, but, like a talent for music or baseball, it must be developed. No development, no music, no baseball, no soul.)

Patriotism is inherently confrontational, divisive and destructive. The familiar bumper sticker reads: GOD BLESS AMERICA. But the hidden, sticky side says: AND FUCK EVERYONE ELSE.

Hitler's storm troopers were patriots; Palestinian suicide bombers are patriots-without-a-country as were the members of the Irgun and Stern gangs in those conveniently forgotten pre-Israel days. Of course, there's a difference between American patriots and their patriots. American patriots are good. God loves American patriots (otherwise why would He have made them so rich?) Their patriots are evil. God hates their patriots.

(part 5 cont.)

Sekhmet Speaks 1

Sekhmet Speaks 2

Sekhmet Speaks 3

Sekhmet Speaks 4