"Is not nationalism -- that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder -- one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred? These ways of thinking -- cultivated, nurtured, indoctrinated from childhood on -- have been useful to those in power, and deadly for those out of power." - Howard Zinn
A true patriot throws away nationalism. A true religion throws away religion.
I must be a true Christian, a true Buddhist, a true American, a true Iraqi, a true patriot.
A practitioner of one of these philosophies may say I am not a true believer, to identify with other religions and countries, but he would have misunderstood.
This perspective is the true path of Jesus and Buddha. They walk together as brothers, and for this reason, as I am concerned with every religion, so too am I concerned with none of them. I am concerned solely with the welfare of all humankind, of all the life of the earth.
A true patriot, likewise, is not concerned with red or blue, or any ideological perspective. He is concerned with the welfare of his country. Yet the greatest patriot of all belongs to no country. He is a citizen of the earth - of all nations, tribes, and animal kingdoms.
His fight is a fight for the welfare of the planet to which he belongs. His struggles are the struggles of the collective beings of the earth. His triumph is found in the equality, freedom, health and success of all beings finding happiness.
Namaste, my brothers and sisters of the Earth. May we all find that place!