Some people who say America's the greatest really believe that we have the best health care, the best education, the highest incomes, the most liberty, the least corruption, and the most opportunities to ...

Vignettes from a Midwestern summer baseball game. It’s a hot summer evening in a Midwestern town. The grass is glimmering in the bright lights, contrasting with the brown dirt of ...

When you hold yourself up as somehow favored in the eyes of God, it’s easy to hold those you deem as less favored to be somehow “less than,” and to dehumanize all who do not conform to your custom-built ideal ...

As Americans celebrate the nation’s founding, some Mormons may outdo their neighbors in fireworks, fanfare, and frenzy to express their outsized patriotism. SALT LAKE CITY — As Am ...

Conservatives often resort to name-calling in the absence of debate, but liberals ignore whole categories of discussion. Like patriotism and religion. Well, it's time we got over that. ...

If being American means finding my identity in the nation and situating my ethics in my loyalty to it, then as a Christian I have no choice but to be anti-American. I’ll admit, I ...

Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher was sentenced recently to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine for disrupting a federal oil and gas lease auction in 2008 that was later deemed illegal. ...

Since <a href="http://wikileaks.org/" target="_blank">WikiLeaks</a> released the first of the leaked government cables for public viewing, the outcry regarding the act has been ...

<p><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/it-takes-a-movement/" target="_blank"></a></p> [ Editor's Note: Today is ...

<p><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/truth-and-civility/" target="_blank"></a></p> <p>This meditation is part of a dialog on Patheos.com about the question, &q ...

When the nation is the object of one's highest concern; when national documents are considered holy scripture; when the nation's founders and historical figures are lifted to the status of demi-god ...

In a unanimous vote yesterday New York City's historic landmarks commission voted to withhold historic protection from the downtown building slated to become a Muslim community center (called Park5 ...

Celeste Kennel-Shank Why national flags don't belong in church. When I first heard the announcement to ri ...

<span style="color: #000000;">"You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ's own forever." (The Book of Common Prayer) " ...

This past Fourth of July weekend, I reflected on Kurt Willems' <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2010/07/02/why-christianity-and-july-4th-are-incompatible/">recent post</a>, which had a ...

I catch up on my news in the airport. Yesterday I watched this obscure story about a second grader in Rhode Island who wore a baseball cap to school with soldiers carrying guns on the front. ...

<p><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2010/06/16/an-astonishing-apology-in-the-house-of-commons/"></a>For 14 people in my homeland, northern Ireland -- a place whose divisions are so ful ...

It wasn't that long ago that the state of Arizona did not recognize, in fact went out of its way to criticize, the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It wasn't t ...

The unfolding coal mine disaster in West Virginia has me constantly checking the news for updates on the plight of our fellow Americans who are victims of this latest tragedy.</p> ...

The political polarization of our society has now reached a new and dangerous level. The political polarization of our society has now reached a new and dangerous level. Honest di ...

From the beginning, <a href="../2010/03/01/mennonite-college-will-now-play-national-anthem-before-sporting-events/">I opposed Goshen's landmark decision </a>to play the national anth ...

The recent decision by Goshen (IN) College to begin playing an instrumental version of the U.S. The recent decision by Goshen (IN) College to begin playing an instrumental version ...

Goshen (Ind.) College recently <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/20/AR2010022002035_pf.html">unveiled its landmark decision</a> to play the national an ...

Sometimes things get so bad that you really don't know what to say or do. When that happens, it's a good time to fast and pray. Sometimes things get so bad that you real ...

<p><a href="http://www.ryanrodrickbeiler.com/Domestic/Washington-DC/9784402_5Kps2#663712345_UfZ3C"></a>This week started off by honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and is ending with a ...

Nobody today will be able to celebrate our many veterans without the <a href="http://www.google.com/news/more?pz=1&amp;cf=all&amp;ncl=dGVEwVrxusKklQMKSmmL9hfvxDoyM&amp;topic=h">memo ...

There comes a moment when we can say a word or speak a concept so often that it loses meaning and simply becomes sound. The concept becomes exhausted, thin, one-dimensional. Ther ...

I was doing a workout anyway, so I decided to watch Sarah Palin's farewell address while pumping away on the elliptical machine. I was doing a workout anyway, so I decided to ...

Rosalie Riegle Contesting Patriotism: Culture, Power, and Strategy in the Peace Movement, by Lynne M. Woehrle, Patrick G. Coy, and Gregory ...

Wednesday morning, at 9 a.m. sharp, I took my tax payment to the local post office. When I handed it to the clerk, she said, "I hate tax day." I replied, "Not me. ...

I consider myself a peacemaker and a patriot. I come from a long line of warriors and military servicemen. I consider myself a peacemaker and a patriot. I come from a long line of ...

Recently, I watched an ongoing <em>New York Times</em> online report by Jennifer Steinhauer and Ben Werschkul called <a title="http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=5aac1546381f300674da8a59 ...

Donald W. Shriver Jr. From far-out depths they come, swell swelling swell, 'til cresting they salute the sky and tumble toward ...

Rose Marie Berger I was haunted by the King of Beers. I confess that I did a double take. At 65 mph I sidled u ...

Kenneth B. Mayne PETER GOMES, as usual, stops short of the whole counsel of scripture ("Patriotism is Not Enough," January-Febru ...

Karen Heaphey WHILE I AM sympathetic to the general point Gerald W. WHILE I AM sympathetic to the general po ...

Michael J. Gorman I STRONGLY agree with Gerald Schlabach's commentary ("We Pledge Allegiance...") on allegiance and the iss ...

Gerald Schlabach In a time of crisis, uncertainty, and policy debate, one would think that Christians in the United States would agree: Wh ...

Peter J. Gomes Christian conscience in a time of war. This fall I was in a large suburban Presbyterian church ...

Julie Polter Does it stand for nationalistic militarism or grief-humbled unity? I am proud to be an American ...

Nate Solloway A graphic portrayed of mythic proportions. These days it gets harder and harder to be a patriot. ...