The secular state religion

It seems to me that some people absurdly regard the nation/military as a sacred religion: the flag is the cross, fallen soldiers are the revered saints, the endless parades, etc., offer the rituals, and anyone who begs to differ is a heretic to be burned at the stake. My goodness, it’s just a human institution, as flawed as anything else. The people who openly worship such state institutions should get a life–a life without the Big Brother Big Government they love so much.

Americans, of all people, should be less susceptable to the seduction of military romance–to glorious tales of heroics. But, in the final analysis, I have come to the conclusion that it is mostly due to wanting to become a part of something “greater than oneself,” which is all B.S., really.

You and I will someday die, but as MacArthur, that great military poet and priest, once said in his last address at West Point, “When I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the corps, and the corps, and the corps . . . I bid you farewell.” Those words still move us. They have a haunting effect.

But I think it all boils down to this: You and I are basically nothing by ourselves, as individuals, we are mere mortals. But the corps lives on. The corps is eternal. By being a part of this great secular religion–the military–we transcend ourselves through the group, through the mighty military herd, if you will; and we, through this myth, through the whole buying into of this myth, each achieve a sense of something great and enduring–something we could never hope, through our own shortcomings, insecurities and profound lack of self-esteem, to realize for ourselves, by ourselves, individually, instead of through the group, because, you see, my friends, the group is well beyond scrutiny. Individuals can be held individually responsible, accountable and culpable for their own individual deeds–but the group cannot.

The group is a collective amalgamation of millions of lives throughout the generations. How can we ever say that it is bad? On the contrary, we celebrate it. We pay homage to it. We worship it. We revel in it. It has to be good, because we each derive a sense of worth from each other, no matter what. For each Mai Lai Massacre, there is Missionary Ridge, Tripoli, Iwo Jima, Corregidor and Battaan, you name it. There is a rich history–and within this tapestry, lives beyond our own, which we vicariously embrace and celebrate to affirm our own sense of self-worth–yes, even “to be all that we can be,” as that classic service slogan goes.

You see, in the end, we all need religion, because we are human, fallible. We need something to believe in–something to sustain us in our times of need, in our moments of weakness, in our every day lives.

For some, it may be America and the US military. For others, it may be Jesus and the Cross. Often times it is both: America and Jesus, the flag and the cross.

As patriotic Americans, we should resist the tendency to embrace a secular state religion and fully realize that the individual and his liberties should count above all else. An obsessive emphasis on institutions would only dilute the essence of Americanism: unabashed individualism–the pursuit of individual happiness. No citizen should ever be sacrificed for another.

Strictly a personal view. Charles Reyes Jr. is a regular columnist of Saipan Tribune. Mr. Reyes may be reached at charlesraves@hotmail.com