Questioning Patriotism

Bryan Fischer has gotten into trouble with the radical left for challenging journalists who refuse to say the pledge:

But it is clearly more than that. When the press corps refuses to declare its allegiance to the same Republic we all are part of, it’s no wonder the public at large begins to question the quality and objectivity of its reporting. Our country does not have to be perfect for us to verbalize our allegiance to it, any more than our children have to be perfect for us to love them.

 This has led to the indignation of the Idaho Left for Bryan Fischer for daring to question the patriotism of Idaho journalists. Writes Tom at Fort Boise:

My first response to the latest salvo from Bryan Fischer was all spluttering expletives and insulting derision, but Jeanette, who has been reading his regular pontification longer than I have pointed out that he’s not stupid, but rather malicious. In terms that the “Reverend” might understand, she observed that Sin is separation from God, and Evil separates us from one another.

That puts Fischer squarely in the category of evil, in his never-ending search for ways and means to divide the “righteous” from the unworthy…

There is no question about trusting anything Fischer writes; he is a small-minded, malicious troll with no interest in betterment of the community, but only in advancing his personal agenda of being holier than thou.

No one on the left will recognize the irony of a self-righteous judgmental post accusing someone else of being self-righteous and judgmental. However, beyond that, Tom makes great presumption in judging the heart of Bryan Fischer. If a minister wants to be holier than thou, all he has to do is find the right church, stand there and preach every Sunday. There exist many ministers who are so “holy” they won’t step out of their church to deal with the much of real living and to stay away from an unclean world.

Bryan Fischer is a likable guy who has chosen the road less travelled, the challenging road and not the easy. Active involvement and engagement are not easy, particularly in politics. Fischer has chosen to enter an arena and I think he deserves credit for that.

You will never read on this blog where I have suggested Jim Hansen, Julie Fanselow, Nicole LeFavour, or any figure on the left simply entered politics as a malicious and self-righteous destroyer of the State. Yet, from one of Idaho’s most venerable blogs, this type of allegation comes in regards to the questions raised by Bryan Fischer.

The Mountain Goat Report goes another direction:

This is an unfair attempt by Fischer to cast aspersions on these reporters and their credibility.  There are many reasons for someone to decline to recite the pledge, one of which I learned, like many others, as a small child.  Being a man of the cloth with a graduate degree in theology, it would seem to be one with which Fischer should be intimately familiar.

In the very small, predominantly Mormon area where I attended school, there was a family of devout Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They had several school-age kids with one boy in my class.  As first graders, we knew nothing about his religion and found it very strange when this boy declined to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance with the rest of the class.

Each day, as we rose to say the pledge, this small boy remained uncomfortably in his seat, his fair-complected face turning a few shades darker than his red hair from the embarrassment of being different.  After it was explained that in his religion, members could actually be disfellowshipped for doing so, as kids usually do, we eventually just got used to it.  It wasn’t a big deal.

So, maybe the reporters aren’t unpatriotic, maybe they are Jehovah’s Witnesses. Unlikely at best:

Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to salute the flag of any nation, recite the pledge of allegiance, stand for or sing the national anthem, run for public office, vote, or serve in the armed forces.

I would argue that the Jehovah’s Witness religion is unpatriotic. Indeed, patriotism is verboten. There are certain religions that don’t hate America, but don’t really love the country they were born in. And that’s fine. Religions that aren’t patriotic pretty much are not in politics. So therefore, I doubt you’ll find a ton of Jehovah’s Witnesses or Amish among the press corps.

 Stating that anything is unpatriotic today is controversial (unless it’s conservatives supporting things liberals don’t like) but I’m sorry, I think there are times when it’s legitimate to raise a question.

When one says one cannot question someone’s patriotism, one makes the term “patriot” a rather meaningless term. If the person we cannot question the patriotism of the man who doesn’t vote, doesn’t respect this nation’s flag or its symbols, or cannot speak positively of its history, than whom can we say is not patriotic? Who can we say is? The label of patriot becomes meaningless in the name of political correctness where no one can be considered unpatriotic even if they’re being flagrantly disrespectful of those saying the pledge.

And yes, you have a right not to say the pledge, and to turn a polite request from Speaker Denney into a media spectacle. And on the same token, I have a right to wonder why.