Patriotism...??

These are the two postings I posted in the forum 'Atheists', discussing about 'Patriotism'. I'll discuss this in detail in the future...

The first one...


Patriotism, can be accepted if it is taken as a cultural, ethnic identity. But, not as a divisive force as religion.

Cultural identity of the past - the one which tells, from which civilization you come from - can be a good thing, as humans' natural tendency is to identify yourself with a set of ideas and norms. Humans always have this in-group, out-group division. It's just the part of evolutionary make-up which was imbibed in us as a part of the survival instinct. This can be broken only if you trust the next guy absolutely, regardless of his identity. This is achievable, but hard, I mean real hard.

But, patriotism is not a part of cultural identity. Its just the jargon of some political blood-suckers.

Patriotism, in my opinion divides humans, and instead of serving the theoretical purpose of dividing nations into boundaries for political management of the people of that demographic, it invokes hatred, and let people turn a blind-eye for atrocities happening in other countries.

Take African countries for instance. Thousands are dying everyday. Is patriotism helping the cause. NO. Why? That's not my country....

But, in a country like India, when Mumbai is attacked, people in Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and other major cities feel sympathetic and panic that, they may be next. This is what patriotism has achieved. Unite people by fear. You are susceptible to fear not because you oppose/support the ideologies of the terrorist, but you know you may be attacked next, since you are in the same nation. I hardly see any beneficial thing out of patriotism.

Patriotism, like religion, has the potential to divide people. Otherwise, we could have easily said, you keep your own god to you, and I won't bother, and there simply is no reason for a group called, "Atheists". Is it?


And now the second one......written two days later....


I want to re-iterate the point I had written in my previous post...

"Patriotism, like religion, has the potential to divide people. Otherwise, we could have easily said, you keep your own god to you, and I won't bother, and there simply is no reason for a group called, "Atheists". Is it? "

The idea of nation is a geo-political one and it was okay when all the ethnic groups were living separately. But, now with the entire international community getting closer and unified by this new globalized consumer culture, patriotism is getting increasingly irrelevant.

I am against any idea which has the potential to divide people. But, any idea which has the function of letting people identify with, and organize for the betterment of the entire society, is more than welcome.

Please don't confuse Cultural background from Patriotism. If Patriotism is a good idea, then India should be united and peaceful. But, sadly that's not the case. Look at Kashmir, North-Eastern states, Telangana, Maharashtra/Karnataka, and more importantly water sharing issues between Tamilnadu and Karnataka.

Hypothetically, if it is a single state (say the border includes region in Tamilnadu and Karnataka into a single entity), the entire issue would have been solved by this time. There wouldn't be so much hatred and no killings and no farmer-suicides. If someone from Tamilnadu or Karnataka (most of them are not even from agricultural background - many had never even watered a plant) can hate the other just because they live on that side of border, even inside a single patriotic entity 'India', then imagine the divisiveness triggered by patriotism in a international scale.

Well, we may know the difference between patriotism or nationalism, but many people don't. That's why I reject all the ideas which even has the 'potential' to divide our species.

What's wrong with calling ourselves humans? Can't we shed all the other ideas which creates false-pride and ultimately hatred...!!!