What is a patriot? Dictionary.com defines a patriot as “a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.” However, the word patriot means many things to many people. One simple definition does not cover the vast scope of feelings and experiences people remember when they hear the word “patriot.” Some believe patriotism results from military service while others think it means flying the flag in their yard with pride. Throughout America’s history and still today, some view patriotism as a primary cause of racism, bigotry, and other injustices, leading to events such as flag protests at sporting events. Many confuse patriotism with nationalism, the dangerous variant of national pride. To me, being a patriot means loving your country, supporting our freedoms, and learning from our history. One can show love towards our country by doing something as simple as celebrating our American history-based holidays or standing in silence when The Star Spangled Banner is …show more content…
At its creation, America possessed some of the most revolutionary ideas when it came to making laws and giving citizens their rights. Our constitution outlines our God-given rights to freedom of speech, a right to arm ourselves, rights to fair trials, and other liberties previous generations were unable to dream of having. These rights freed many from the oppressions faced under European monarchies, and many still immigrate to our country to experience the freedoms we have as U.S. citizens. We can support our freedoms by electing officials who won’t try to take away these freedoms and fight against those who do. Our troops fight to support our freedoms, so we can support our troops to show patriotism and support our freedoms. Obeying our laws and participating in the legal system shows patriotism. Petitioning laws that we feel restrict our freedoms displays our patriotism and the liberties we can enjoy