Patriot:  “A person who loves, supports and defends his country.”  American Heritage Dictionary

Patriots disagree with one another about what their country should do.  There was a time when, if you wore a gray uniform, it was patriotic to kill other Americans who wore the blue uniform.  The definition of patriotism changes over time and I wonder what the definition is now.

Let’s assume that in 1942 there were American citizens who completely identified with the goals of Germany, Italy and Japan.  They wanted to see the Axis powers win the war and rule the world using the political style of Aryan-led national socialism rather than liberal democracy.    

Let’s further assume that there were American citizens in 1946 who completely identified with the goals of the Soviet Union.  They wanted to see Communism dominate the world, replacing the American Constitution with the Constitution of the Soviet Union, replacing our liberal democracy with a dictatorship of the proletariat.

Can those citizens of 1942 and 1946 be described as American patriots?  Would advocating their beliefs break any law now?

Let’s further assume that there are American citizens today who completely identify with the goals of Islamic law.  They  want to see sharia become the law of the land, replacing the Constitution, and Islam the dominant religion in America.

Can those citizens be considered American patriots?  Are they breaking any law while advocating a change from liberal democracy to Islamic theocracy?

Finally, let’s assume there are citizens now who completely identify with the social values and rules in the Bible.  They want the Bible (as explained by their particular sect) to replace the Constitution as the source of our laws, replacing our liberal democracy with a Christian theocracy.  Can these citizens be considered patriots and does advocating their beliefs break any law?

Advocating the forcible overthrow of the American government is sedition and any citizen who is convicted of it should be in prison.  All other political speech is protected.  Anyone can patiently and quietly  work to change the fundamental character of our country and break no law. 

To the extent that Fascism, Communism, Islamic law or Christianism become politically dominant in America, liberal democracy dies.  An American patriot will resist them all.  

We need to draw a line, and it is not easy to do.  We should continue to guarantee free speech, but only to those who do not advocate forcible overthrow.  I have serious doubts that advocates for Islamic law qualify for that guarantee.   

But even if they do not call for forcible overthrow, all the above ideologies fail to qualify as replacements for liberal democracy for the same reason.  None of them is capable of producing the equality of opportunity we get from liberal democracy.  Each of the above ideologies creates a favored class of citizen and less favored classes—us and them. 

Laws are based on values, religious and otherwise.  There is nothing wrong with that.  But no ideology, religious or otherwise, can be used as a reason for passing laws based on values that violate our prime value—equality of opportunity.