My earliest memories of Independence Day revolve around sparklers, the loud booms of firecrackers, the savory smell of cookouts, and, yes, many American flags. Now, as I raise a family in the U.S. capital, my memories of the holiday involve watching the stunning fireworks display on the National Mall and seeing who can eat the most Maryland crab at an all-you-can-eat Fourth of July picnic at a nearby pool. (And given the sheer volume of crab my sons and I can throw down, I’m grateful the organizers still let us participate.)
I think it’s a mistake for us to cede patriotism to those who turn it into a poisonous blend of nationalism and ETHNOCENTRISM.
If it’s not obvious: I genuinely enjoy celebrating July Fourth. Yet I know that many Americans — including Christians who share my commitment to social justice — have a far more complicated relationship with the holiday. And I get it: So often, celebrating Independence Day is wrapped in a weaponized, politicized form of patriotism which allows no room for critiquing the real harms and contradictions of our nation. But I think it’s a mistake for us to cede patriotism to those who turn it into a poisonous blend of nationalism and ethnocentrism, fixated on blood and soil and fueled by fear of “the other.”
Instead of rejecting patriotism, I want Christians to redeem it. To me, that means finding ways to love and celebrate this nation that are always rooted in Jesus’s Great Commandment: to love our God with all our mind, body, and soul and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).
Of course, it’s easy to find expressions of American patriotism that do the opposite, especially this year. As our country celebrates the 249th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I’m concerned about how July Fourth might be used to rally people around the flag and the military, given the reckless bombing attacks President Donald Trump launched on Iran and the parade he threw for himself and the Army last month. I’m also lamenting the Supreme Court decision last week that will make it harder to curb the Trump administration’s flagrantly unconstitutional attempt to revoke birthright citizenship and the Senate’s passage of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which many faith leaders — myself included — have opposed due to its cruel cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in order to extend tax breaks for the rich. This is on top of the ways this administration has repeatedly claimed its critics “hate” this country, a tactic it uses to delegitimize dissent and whitewash the injustices of this country’s past and present. All of which can make celebrating July Fourth fraught for people of conscience.
It should be obvious on the Fourth of July that true patriotism always includes national critique.
But despite attempts to wrangle patriotism into an uncritical embrace of our country, it should be obvious on the Fourth of July that true patriotism always includes national critique. After all, the holiday itself commemorates our founders coming together to sign an expression of dissent against unjust rulers and unjust systems.
Adding to the irony, the ideals of equality and justice expressed in that document were originally — by design — only applicable to white, landowning men. Just as the founders had to come together to protest the tyrannical rule of kings, subsequent generations of U.S. citizens have had to come together to protest the limitations of our founding documents and close the gap between our professed ideals and their present reality for everyone.
Put simply, protest is embedded in our nation’s DNA; in many ways, it’s the highest form of patriotism. In this moment when many of our core freedoms are being undermined, safeguarding these rights and our democratic system represents an essential way we demonstrate our love for this country
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But while patriotism always includes dissent, it doesn’t have to stop there. Redeeming patriotism means confronting our country’s flaws — including those that go back to its founding and those we’re still fighting today — and being vocal about why we love the United States. For me, that love always starts with the many millions of people who share this nation with me. To be sure, I love and care about people and communities all over the world, but that also includes the people and communities that live here. Loving my neighbors here in the U.S. has included volunteering my time through my church and fraternity to mentor at-risk youth and support food deliveries for families in need as well as leading campaigns to combat poverty and remove barriers to voting.
When I think about my love for this country, I also think about the beauty of God’s creation on display across this land in the many national and state parks filled with glorious landscapes, life-sustaining watersheds, and beautiful wildlife. My love for this country also includes some of our greatest national accomplishments such as our pioneering work in aviation and space travel, our early contributions to internet technology, and our humanitarian work like the PEPFAR program that saved 20 million lives from HIV/AIDS. And let’s not forget, this country has birthed new genres of music including jazz, rock ’n’ roll, and my beloved go-go music, which originated in the streets of Washington, D.C.
Most of all, I think about the movements for social justice that have changed our country for the better, inspiring human rights and dignity around the world. The work of these movements remains unfinished and is ongoing, but that does not lessen the pride I feel living in the same country that was home to Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Cesar Chavez, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Harvey Milk, and Dorothy Day, to name just a few.
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I recently had the chance to discuss faith and patriotism with Richard Mouw, the former president of Fuller Seminary and author of How to Be a Patriotic Christian. I resonated with many of the ideas Mouw shared in our conversation, including his denunciation of the idea that God loves the U.S. more than any other nation, and his insistence that we must still show empathy for those who embrace this idea, even if we don’t agree. Mouw likened our love of country to the love we show for our family — a love that has true affection yet avoids lapsing into either idolatry or an uncritical acceptance of the status quo. In my mind, patriotism becomes idolatrous when love of nation starts to get confused with or becomes more important than our love for God or our neighbor. In order to maintain a healthy form of patriotism, we must constantly ask: Where is our primary allegiance?
July Fourth presents an opportunity to model a healthy form of patriotism that helps us to redeem it. As I wrote in A More Perfect Union:
Redeeming patriotism requires reframing our love for the best of America’s ideals and aspirations. It requires understanding that the right to critique America is part of the brilliance of America. … Redeeming patriotism requires greater willingness to have courageous and civil conversations about the very ideals that make us love America. It refuses pointless arguments over who loves America more.
Next year will be the United States’ 250th anniversary, and while there will undoubtedly be a lot of uncritical pomp and celebration, it’s never been more important to reclaim a healthy patriotism that neither overlooks the nation’s past and present sins nor wallows in a nihilistic self-loathing. One way I express my own patriotism is to be unsparing in my criticism of the United States’ flaws; I wouldn’t bother critiquing this nation if I didn’t care so much about making it better.
Let’s express our love of country by working tirelessly to uphold our nation’s professed ideals by fighting the injustices of its present reality. Let’s express patriotism in ways that help us disagree better, expand who “we the people” fully includes, and ensure that “liberty and justice for all” truly becomes real for all.
Rev. Adam Russell Taylor is president of Sojourners and author of A More Perfect Union: A New Vision for Building the Beloved Community. Follow him on Bluesky @revadamtaylor.
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