Tag: patriotism

Another flag?

Posted on by kathiemm
Sign at cemetery: "Please leave old flag her in receptacle"
Photo by Terry Eiler, in public domain

Flags symbolize different things to  different people.

Generally, to one group they symbolize patriotism, bravery, and military success.

To another, they symbolize mindless killing, inhumanity, and a stimulus to endless cycles of murder, destruction, and revenge.

Two veterans who fought courageously in the service of the United States had this to say about the flag:

“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people for a purpose which is unattainable…. Modern technology has outdistanced the Bible. ‘An eye for an eye’ has become a hundred eyes for an eye, a hundred babies for a baby. The tough-guy columnists… who defended this [the bombing of Tripoli by the Reagan administration], tried to wrap their moral nakedness in the American flag. But it dishonors the flag to wave it proudly over the killing of a college student, or a child sleeping in a crib.”  (Howard Zinn, World War II veteran, responding to bombing of Tripoli.)

“The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag. (Major General Smedley Butler, career officer, USMC, in 1933 speech.)

Perhaps we should honor some different flags on Flag Day 2012.           

The Iraq Veterans Against the War, for example, is sponsoring the White Flag Warriors, a group of veterans who travel the country, introducing people to Operation Recovery: The Right to Heal Campaign.

Or learn about the Peace Flag Project at http://www.thepeaceflagproject.org/, inspired by Tibetan prayer flags. Make your own peace flag.

For many people around the world, the American flag has become a symbol for imperialism, capitalism, and inhumanity.

Should we not work to make it become a symbol for “liberty and justice for all”?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Thank you, George

Posted on by kathiemm
George Washington portrait
Portrait by Gilbert Stuart in public domain. Photo by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

American schoolchildren learn at least a few things about George Washington—that he fought the British to help achieve independence for the American colonies, that he was the first President of the United States, that he refused to become King.

But how many of them have learned of Washington’s views on war? He said, among other things:

“My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.”

“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.”

Foreshadowing President Dwight David Eisenhower’s familiar warning about the military industrial complex, Washington said, “Overgrown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.”

And perhaps foreshadowing the movement toward government of, by, and for the wealthiest and most powerful, Washington commented, “Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”

Washington, like all great individuals, was a complex man influenced by his historical context even while offering much great advice for a better future.

A few other messages from him to consider on Presidents Day (Monday, February 20):

  • “Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”
  • “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
  • ”Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.”

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Responsible democracy

Posted on by kathiemm

[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Today we welcome the second of several contributions by our guest contributor, Dr. Majed Ashy. And be sure to listen to his recent interview on Internet radio; just click on the sidebar links.]

Egyptian protests, January 25, 2011
Egyptian protests. Photo by Muhammad Ghafari (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic; from Wikimedia Commons)

Some international stereotypes about the Middle East might be convenient, but can mislead those who hold them, lead to inappropriate responses, and serve as obstacles to further development in the Middle East.

It is important to acknowledge that relative freedoms already exist in several Arab countries such as the Gulf States; many of these countries adhere to Islamic laws in various degrees and many have experienced remarkable economic and social development in the past 40 years, along with good and responsible relations with many other nations.

I suggest that there is an international need to develop what I call Responsible Democracy. Responsible democracy would require that people take their freedoms seriously and understand the consequences of their choices and political participation. It entails gathering information from multiple sources on the issues at hand, and attending to principles of morality, peace, and international law before making political choices. Successful governments adapt to and respect the needs and the development of their peoples.

Responsible democracy rejects intellectual laziness, stereotyping, and adolescent tendency towards screaming, adventures, taking sides, fighting, and winning. It is based on a healthy understanding of politics, citizenship, patriotism, international law, one’s own place in the world and history, and recognition of how the world and its people are interlinked.

I think the Middle East is evolving towards responsible democracies driven by internal forces of morality, culture, and history. Some of its governments have been reforming wisely, gradually, and peacefully towards that achievement.

I believe that a fair form of government that respects, takes seriously, and responds to its peoples’ needs and aspirations, as well as their natural rights, and their historical and cultural developments, is a prerequisite for mental health. In turn, mental health can contribute to responsible democracy and governance, and to international peace.

Majed Ashy, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Merrimack College and a research fellow in psychiatry at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School