American patriotism/nationalism and Mennonites

 Many American children start the school day with a patriotic/nationalistic ritual: reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. 

This ritual serves as a daily reinforcement of America's effort to instil nationalism and patriotism in the minds of its citizens. The message: be loyal to the United States, the country that issued you a passport, even when it conflicts with your sense of morality. The constant repetition of this ritual convinces many American children to give their first allegiance to their country, ahead of allegiance to any religious values or moral values they may have.

Every country at war depends on its citizens to overlook its immoral acts. Mennonites have experienced this since the 1600s in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Prussia, Ukraine, and Russia, as these countries were fighting "realist" wars for power. We have seen the United States commit similar immoral acts in Vietnam, Iraq, and America's other wars. So Mennonites see the United States as just another country ordering its military to do immoral acts to flex its power.

When the United States does something immoral, the country wants its citizens to look the other way. Americans whose allegiance is to country first will think it's perfectly OK for the United States to bomb hospitals, assisinate charity workers with drone strikes, imprison the innocent, and commit other killings, injustices, and war crimes. Nationalistic and patriotic Americans look the other way because they feel a greater allegiance to their country than to their sense of morality. 

Mennonites don't feel nationalistic or patriotic towards any country, even the U.S. When Mennonites learned of the Abu Ghraib prison photos in 2004, patriotism/nationalism didn't cause us to look the other way. When Mennonites learned that President Obama bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in 2015, patriotism/nationalism didn't cause us to look the other way. And in 2021, when President Biden sent a drone to assassinate aid worker Zemari Ahmadi along with seven children who happened to be near him, patriotism/nationalism didn't cause us to look the other way. We saw acts of cruelty, injustice and murder. Committed by the United States. Every other country where Mennonites have lived has done the same. The United States is not special.

Those whose first allegiance is to the U.S. won't be bothered by the acts of cruelty, injustice, and murder. They pledge their allegiance to the American republic's "realist" quest for power and domination among nations. 

American Mennonites are deeply disturbed when the United States is cruel, unjust, and murderous. The Bible tells us such acts are wrong, and that we are working alongside other "constructivists" to build a world where cruelty, injustice, and murder aren't committed by anyone. We are not blinded by patriotism or nationalism like many Americans around us.

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