Fostering Patriotism

I will take Senator Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, at his word when he says in today’s Deseret Morning News he is introducing a bill that will require every classroom in Utah to display the flag, the Declaration of Independence, and perhaps even the Constitution – or at least the Bill of Rights – because “anything we can do to teach the younger generations to truly revere the flag and at least know something about the Constitution, I would love that.”


The flag has become an easy target of politicians hoping to demonstrate to constituents they share our common sense of patriotism and love of country. Understandably, few would stand in the way of anyone promoting the flag. Given 2008 is an election year, it would be easy to be cynical about Senator Christensen’s proposal, but I will give the good senator the benefit of the doubt.


Recent years have seen a surge in displays of patriotism. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, our thoughts and feelings turned to concern for our nation. Flags were displayed on porches, in windows, on cars, and lapels everywhere. This was as it should be. Such displays were part of both our universal mourning for those lost and love of country dealing with the aftermath of the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor.


However, patriotism is too often seen as a simple matter of displaying a flag or putting a bumper sticker on a car. My problem with Senator Christensen’s bill, no matter how well meaning, is that it perpetuates this notion. Patriotism may include proudly displaying the flag, but must also involve informing yourself on issues and voting in local, state and national elections. Most classes already display the flag, and if doing so produced more active, informed citizens Utah wouldn’t rank 45th in the nation in voter turnout in last year’s elections.


Viewing the flag doesn’t turn kids into patriots, and putting yet another display on the wall won’t get them to read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. As students approach voting age, they should be given a copy of the document to take home and read. They should be encouraged to debate what the Bill of Rights means and explore how reasonable citizens, even our founders, differed in their views of the first ten amendments.


Requiring and fully funding a civics education program in Utah schools that doesn’t shy away from the controversies surrounding the Constitution over the years might actually infuse students with a sense of what it really means to be a patriotic American. Anyone can pledge allegiance to a flag, but how many Americans can name their representative or senator at either the state or federal level? How many can tell you what rights are guaranteed to them under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution? How many can carry on a debate with their neighbor regarding the scope of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?


In 2006, Utah saw only 35% of the voting age population turnout to vote. Flags were in as much or greater abundance that year than in 2000, I suspect. Senator Christensen and others that frequently make the flag the center of political discourse would have my much more enthusiastic support if they were instead debating how best to enhance the quality of civics education in Utah. Maybe we should find a way to set aside just a portion of the $90 million in tax cuts being proposed for yet another year, and buy every student a copy of the document the flag represents. That would be a patriotic gesture we could all wholeheartedly get behind.