What does it mean to be a patriot in the West?

“Pro patria mori” is a Latin phrase from Horace, the famous Latin poet; it means to die for one’s fatherland. The word “patriot” is derived from the Greek “patrios” meaning “of one’s father.”

Patriotism is perhaps above all a western phenomenon which refers to a person’s allegiance to a country or homeland rather than to one leader of a country as in the case of most Middle Eastern States. I am English and yet I condemn in the strongest possible terms my government’s refusal not to call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine as do the majority of people around the world.

In the UK, the word patriot has come to mean for many “my country right or wrong.” In this article I will argue that such a definition of what it is to be an English patriot is not only incorrect but describes the opposite. I propose that such a definition describes what it is to be unpatriotic. In view of what is happening in Palestine the meaning of what it means to be an English patriot is particularly relevant.

Most westerners would agree that patriotism involves the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to their homeland. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, political or historical facts. To be a patriot means that you have a special affection for one’s own country, a special concern for the well-being of your country and when necessary as in the Second World War (1939 - 1945) a willingness to sacrifice yourself to protect it from an enemy seeking to destroy and invade your homeland.

But there are limitations: it does not permit a patriot to promote his country’s interests under any circumstances and by any means. To be a true patriot one should acknowledge the constraints morality imposes on the pursuit of your people’s individual and collective goals. Being a patriot may require you to fight for your country but only in so far as the war is, and remains, just.

To be a true patriot you also have an obligation to criticise your government when appropriate, to point out its faults, to say and do what is necessary to improve your country for all its people. To be a patriot you have at times to oppose your country’s government policies and actions and hold it to account when it harms its own people and people in foreign lands. You have a duty to make your compatriots aware of any government in power at any given time which fails to uphold moral standards and pursue ethical policies.

A patriot should expect his country to live up to certain moral standards. In return a country has an obligation to deserve his support and allegiance. Patriotism isn’t a one-way street. It isn’t unconditional. If it were then all countries no matter how immoral their governments behaved would deserve their people’s support. When my country fails to do what is morally right, when it aligns itself with a country which is committing genocide in Palestine, my duty as a patriot is to withhold support.

The majority of German people under Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime in the 1930s and 1940s supported their government but a large minority of brave Germans opposed it and paid with their lives. Those Germans who opposed the Nazis knew the consequences of their actions in showing dissent and yet were willing to sacrifice their lives “pro patria mori.” They were condemned by the majority of Germans as being disloyal, rebellious and unpatriotic but they were of course the only true German patriots. Their love for their country and concern for the future of the German people and for people in other countries are what made them true patriots.

History has proven those brave Germans to be right and the majority of Germans who continued to support the Nazis to the end were shown to have been complicit in the annihilation of their homeland and the deaths of many millions of Germans and non-Germans. These latter pro-Nazi Germans represented the antithesis of what it is to be a patriot.

In the western world it has never been so important to question the actions of the nations in which we live. Western Societies can only improve if they are constantly under the scrutiny of their people. To be a patriot in the West one has to stand up for what is right. Even if yours is the only voice which opposes its government’s policies. I might still love my country but as long as it refuses to call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine I am unable to give it my support.