Tag Archives: patriotism

State Religion

A blogger syndicated here, Peter Wall, is upset that an atheist soldier has been the recipient of harassment by Christians in the military. While I agree that such behavior poorly represents Christ to the world and is inexcusable, I’m more frightened and annoyed by this quote from Michael Weinstein, a retired senior Air Force officer and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation:

“Our Pentagon, our Pentacostalgon, is refusing to realize that when you put the uniform on, there’s only one religious faith: patriotism.”

The State giveth and the State taketh away. Blessed be the State!

*shudder*

Wise Old Gilbert

Sometimes it’s enlightening to soak up some of G.K.Chesterton’s wisdom, especially
when it’s obviously still applicable after 80 years.

“You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must
have a democracy in order to have a revolution.” – Tremendous Trifles, 1909

“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives.
The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives
is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.” – ILN, 4/19/24

“It is the mark of our whole modern history that the masses are kept quiet
with a fight. They are kept quiet by the fight because it is a sham-fight; thus
most of us know by this time that the Party System has been popular only in the
sense that a football match is popular.” – A Short History of England. 156

“I have formed a very clear conception of patriotism. I have generally found
it thrust into the foreground by some fellow who has something to hide in the background.
I have seen a great deal of patriotism; and I have generally found it the last refuge
of the scoundrel.” – The Judgement of Dr. Johnson, Act III

“Progress is a comparative of which we have not settled the superlative.”
– Chapter 2, Heretics, 1905

“Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision,
instead we are always changing the vision.” – Orthodoxy, 1908

“This is the age in which thin and theoretic minorities can cover and conquer
unconscious and untheoretic majorities.” – ILN, 12/20/19

“Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God.” – Christendom
in Dublin, 1933