Pious Patriotism
Happy Fourth of July! This time of year we especially remember to honor our country. While patriotism may sound like it has nothing to do with our faith, St. Thomas Aquinas taught that giving appropriate honor to one’s country is actually part of the virtue called “piety.” Piety means paying the honor due to another for the benefits we’ve received from them. We owe piety first and foremost to God because we owe the whole of our existence to him.  We owe piety to our parents for our birth and for our rearing. (Yes, changing all of those dirty diapers does count for something!) And we owe piety to our country for the many goods it has provided for us that we couldn’t have provided for ourselves. 
What good things we might ask? Well how about the fact that we can call 911 and have an ambulance show up at our door if we need it? How about the fact that we are regarded as “innocent until proven guilty” under law (which prevents those who don’t like us from so easily ruining our lives)? How about the fact that we have good, relatively safe roads that allow us to freely go wherever we need to go? How about the fact that we can freely practice our faith? Our country may not be perfect, but it has provided us with many, many good things that not everyone has.
For this we owe a certain debt to our county – the debt of “piety.”  But piety doesn’t only refer to flying the American flag in our yard or putting our hands on our hearts during the National Anthem.  These are certainly ways of expressing piety, but even more importantly, piety is about serving our country.  Service in the military is one way to serve the country, but it is by no means the only way.  It is the task of politicians, teachers, police officers, firefighters, EMT’s, judges, doctors, nurses, counselors, postal workers and many more to serve our county as well. In fact, a “job” isn’t the only way to serve either.  By, say, voting with an informed conscience, paying our taxes honestly, and looking to the needs of those beyond ourselves, we do, in fact, exercise the virtue of piety. Perhaps one of the greatest ways we can serve our country is by serving our family. After all, if a country is made up of broken families, how can we expect that country not to break as well?
As Christians, we ought to be our nation’s best citizens because we know that we don’t only have to answer to Uncle Sam, we have to answer to God who will weigh our every action and omission on judgment day. May we honor and serve our God and our country for all we have received. (But of course, God first.)
-Fr. Sandquist