This fascinating question arose recently in NYC where Michael Brendan Dougherty presented his new book: My Father Left Me Ireland. He was joined in genial conversation about, among other things, the proper role of nationalism and love of country, with prominent moral conservatives including Reno, who has been advocating a positive kind of nationalism in the age of Trump, and Douthat who (as always) expressed lucidly my own ambivalence. For me, the USA is both my country (which I love) and an empire, in the good and bad senses.
Regarding the country I love, I think of all the freedoms (so beautifully painted byNorman Rockwell), of the rule of law, democracy, free markets, enterprise and the inviolable dignity of every person. I think proudly of all my uncles who fought in World War II and my son who has served in the army and now the reserves.
Since 1945, our country has been an empire. This imperial Pax Americana, has been largely benevolent, especially in light of the competition: bad actors like ISIS, Stalin and Putin, Mao and Jinping! We have spread much of what is best from Christian tradition and the Enlightenment. And so, I remain a moderate internationalist, supporting a strong American presence and influence around the globe.
But there is also the negative sides of imperialism; and they are not a few.
1. First of all, from its founding this country has hated the Catholic Church. As a fervent Catholic, therefore, I am at odds with much of American tradition and practice; my DNA is counter-cultural.. The exception to this enmity was the time of my youth, 1945-65, when there was a romance between this country and my Church: among the towering Catholic figures widely honored across society were JFK, Fulton Sheen, Thomas Merton, Flannery O'Connor, and others. The euphoric love affair was short-loved however, as the Cultural/Sexual Revolution cast elite culture ferociously against the Catholic Ethos. We find ourselves back where we always were: a persecuted minority, marginalized and despised by the powers that be.
2. Secondly, I imbibed from my Catholic upbringing a strong sense of the unity of all people under the fatherhood of God and therefore a fierce internationalism. From my youth I cared about the starving babies in China and the persecuted behind the Iron Curtain. So today I reject Trump's "America First" but not as much as I despise the secular, liberated cosmopolitanism of Clinton/Obama that imperialistically exports "reproductive rights," the degrading emancipation of sexuality from family, and genocide of the powerless.
3. Thirdly, coming of age as a prospective Maryknoll missioner in seminary college in 1965-9 I became aware of the "Ugly American" side of our international influence: the power, affluence, materialism, arrogance, and contempt for other cultures. Moving into adulthood I shed many of my left wing leanings as I deepened my appreciation for my Catholic tradition, but I never lost my sense of the dark side of American materialism, consumerism, hyper-technology, mega-bureaucracy, and the not-always-obvious attack on faith, family, local communities and moral values.
4. Fourthly, the "melting pot" narrative by which we are all molded into a uniform culture is largely wrong: America has always been a complicated, competitive arena in which diverse tribes, ethnic and cultural and religious, compete to protect and advance what is sacred to them: WASPS, white evangelicals, Catholics, Orthodox Jews, Black evangelicals, secular liberals (which includes many who identify as liberal Catholics, Reform Jews, and mainline Protestants), and numerous others. For example, even the Democratic Party into which I was born was a coalition of Southern (racist) democrats, secular (largely Jewish) and culturally liberating democrats, and ethnic, Catholic labor-union democrats (like my own family). This makes for quite a circus! (E. Michael Jones is particularly keen on this!) Even the power elites are diverse and set against each other: the culture liberal elite (media, academia, Hollywood, and tons of money) are set against the traditional moneyed Republican elites. True to my working class, Catholic roots, I send a curse on both houses. The diversity, plurality and complexity of this country has a positive aspect: no particular group is able to impose itself on the others.
There always is, however, a dominant culture working to incorporate the rest of us. Historically, of course, this was White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestantism. Since 1965, the hegemony belongs to a culture that is: secular, oblivious of God, technocratic, careerist, meritocratic, anti-tradition, destructive of gender and family, materialist, consumerist, non-racist (to an obsession!), sexually liberated, sterile, individualistic, addicted to the expansive state and malignantly-mega corporations, corrosive of local and intermediate communities and isolating...even as this toxic culture presents dual faces of economic (Republican Party) and cultural (Democratic Party) liberalism. (On this see Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Dineen as well as the work of the two David Schindlers and the Communio school of thought.) This new cultural empire is, in my view, very (if not absolutely) bad as it separates us from the Source of all good; undermines wholesome bonds of family, faith, and locality; and breeds isolation, loneliness and despair! To that extent, I am fiercely anti-cultural and possibly anti-American. But it is more complicated than that; although it is largely in bondage to an Evil Empire, I have not despaired of my county.
The election of Trump was a immense relief, even for some of us who reject his ideology and despise his vile immorality and narcissistic incompetence, in that it represented a relief from the oppression (e.g. contraception mandate) of the Obama regime. This fractured, non-monolithic society (as Yuval Levin argues brilliantly) lends itself to a certain modesty of ambition: my political goals have become smaller. I do not envision a Catholic America: I am not out to absolutely ban abortion, contraception, guns, or global warming. Rather, I am defensive of my own freedom: to practice my faith as I understand it and pass my tradition onto my children, without coercion from the liberal state. A certain "live and let live" is desirable. If 2/3 of pregnant black women in NYC decide to abort, I cannot prevent them; but I will not finance it. If over 90% of fertile women want to poison themselves, bodily and spiritually, with the pill, I do not resist; but I will not pay for it through my taxes or my insurance premiums. If two men want to "marry" and announce their performance of toxic, sinful actions, it is not for me to control or judge them: but I will not be forced to bake their cake or hire them in our Catholic schools. Not the Supreme Court, not the Affordable Health Care Act, not the totalitarianism of political correctness none of the above will force me to participate in sytemic sin...THAT is a hill upon which I WILL die!
And so I remain conflicted in my love for my country. Our country is darkened by a revived anti-Catholicism as well as diabolic forces of uncontrolled technology, meritocracy, bureaucracy, sexual license, consumerism, hedonism, personal isolation and despair. I find myself in agreement with both Rod Dreher and Adrian Vermuele: we Catholics need to partially disconnect from the fragmented, larger culture to strengthen our own local families and communities; even as we participate in broader political life to protect our values, advance them, and become a light to this country and world. We can work with the right to defend religious liberty and powerless human life in all its forms; even as we collaborate with the left on a variety of issues such as gun control, immigration, protection of the environment and workers rights. A wholesome love for country can be rooted in a fierce resistance to the emergent hegemony, a balanced sense of subsidiarity, a moderate internationalism. and a grateful patriotism that is not without a critical sense.
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