As a young child, I thought exhibiting patriotism meant reciting the Pledge of Allegiance...and espousing the idea of my country, right or wrong...
Now I know that pledging allegiance to any one thing...a person, an idea, a country...requires excluding all the others...now I know that allegiance to a person, an idea or a country is what creates separation and strife and war...now I know that there is no one person, idea or country that is always right in every situation and circumstance...
This understanding has come slowly...but my life...and the lives of those with whom I interact...is much better for my gaining it...
I now have respect for the ideas and beliefs of others...I now have respect for those who, like me, were indoctrinated into patriotism beginning at birth...I now have respect for those who serve in accepted ways and those who choose to serve differently...
Over time, I have gained insight...and lost allegiance...this has given me the great gift of independence...the true promise of any democracy...
Front portico, California Treasury building in Sacramento, California