Many people claim to love America while hating the vast majority of people in it.  They threaten to commit violence against our government if they don’t get their way.  They moan about how immigrants and minorities are ruining our country and how, when whites become the minority, we will no longer be America.  And they think that these positions make them patriots.

That’s not patriotic.  That’s the opposite of what America is all about.  Remember “all men are created equal”?  

Patriotism doesn’t mean loving your country unconditionally.  It’s not “love it or leave it” it’s “love it or make it something you love.”  It means working to change it when you disagree with it.

Part of the problem we have these days is that there are many people who hate government.  They love America and hate government.  They have poisoned the minds of many people into thinking that the government is the enemy, while forgetting that we are the government.  We, the people.  Those guys in Washington are just there to represent us, and if we actually get out and vote and participate, we can change them.

Often the loudest complainers are the ones who never vote, never write their representatives, and never lift a finger to make things better.  But when it comes to whining about how government doesn’t represent their interests, they’re right in front.

Other complainers are like religious fundamentalists — they are convinced that their interpretation of the (insert one:  Bible / Constitution) is the only one and everyone else is not only wrong but evil.  These people will often use violence to enforce their narrow views in the mistaken belief that they, and only they, are (holy / patriotic).  They, too, are anything but.

Politicians will sometimes point to farmlands and small rural towns as perfect examples of our “heartland” where true patriotic Americans live.  I feel patriotic when I walk down the streets of Manhattan, surrounded by people of all races, religions, and backgrounds, all living together in relative peace and harmony.   Interracial and gay marriages aren’t a sign of the downfall of America — it is the best example of how the American dream is being achieved.  Where all are created equal and treated equally and where we can set the stage for the rest of the world to see how it is possible to live together.

That’s patriotism to me.  Bringing us all together is patriotic.

Those who want to divide us are not supporting America.