On Patriotism: The Wider, Inclusive Loyalty
Most people, if asked, would probably say they have an affinity for where they were born and grew up. By and large we love our country and its language and customs. It is what we are used to. Even persecuted peoples don't lose their love for the land of their birth. Baha'is in Iran, despite the very real fact of persecution there, love their country. Love and devotion to one's country is the definition of patriotism.
Nations did not always exist. It may come as a surprise to Westerners to know that the concept of nation-building was a unique contribution of Islam to the evolution of human life on the planet. Here is one of many quotes by Shoghi Effendi, one of the Central Figures of the Baha'i Faith, on the subject of patriotism and nationhood.
The love of one’s country, instilled and stressed by the teaching of Islám, as “an element of the Faith of God,” has not, through this declaration, this clarion-call of Bahá’u’lláh, been either condemned or disparaged. It should not, indeed it cannot, be construed as a repudiation, or regarded in the light of a censure, pronounced against a sane and intelligent patriotism, nor does it seek to undermine the allegiance and loyalty of any individual to his country, nor does it conflict with the legitimate aspirations, rights, and duties of any individual state or nation. All it does imply and proclaim is the insufficiency of patriotism, in view of the fundamental changes effected in the economic life of society and the interdependence of the nations, and as the consequence of the contraction of the world, through the revolution in the means of transportation and communication—conditions that did not and could not exist either in the days of Jesus Christ or of Muhammad. It calls for a wider loyalty, which should not, and indeed does not, conflict with lesser loyalties. It instills a love which, in view of its scope, must include and not exclude the love of one’s own country. It lays, through this loyalty which it inspires, and this love which it infuses, the only foundation on which the concept of world citizenship can thrive, and the structure of world unification can rest. It does insist, however, on the subordination of national considerations and particularistic interests to the imperative and paramount claims of humanity as a whole, inasmuch as in a world of interdependent nations and peoples the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the whole.
Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 122.
Nations did not always exist. It may come as a surprise to Westerners to know that the concept of nation-building was a unique contribution of Islam to the evolution of human life on the planet. Here is one of many quotes by Shoghi Effendi, one of the Central Figures of the Baha'i Faith, on the subject of patriotism and nationhood.
The love of one’s country, instilled and stressed by the teaching of Islám, as “an element of the Faith of God,” has not, through this declaration, this clarion-call of Bahá’u’lláh, been either condemned or disparaged. It should not, indeed it cannot, be construed as a repudiation, or regarded in the light of a censure, pronounced against a sane and intelligent patriotism, nor does it seek to undermine the allegiance and loyalty of any individual to his country, nor does it conflict with the legitimate aspirations, rights, and duties of any individual state or nation. All it does imply and proclaim is the insufficiency of patriotism, in view of the fundamental changes effected in the economic life of society and the interdependence of the nations, and as the consequence of the contraction of the world, through the revolution in the means of transportation and communication—conditions that did not and could not exist either in the days of Jesus Christ or of Muhammad. It calls for a wider loyalty, which should not, and indeed does not, conflict with lesser loyalties. It instills a love which, in view of its scope, must include and not exclude the love of one’s own country. It lays, through this loyalty which it inspires, and this love which it infuses, the only foundation on which the concept of world citizenship can thrive, and the structure of world unification can rest. It does insist, however, on the subordination of national considerations and particularistic interests to the imperative and paramount claims of humanity as a whole, inasmuch as in a world of interdependent nations and peoples the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the whole.
Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 122.
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