Piety toward our country is the virtue of patriotism.
The virtue of piety means rendering due respect and service to God. Piety toward our country is patriotism: respecting the merits and goodness of our nation and doing due service to it. Patriotism and duty have devolved into controversial topics in 2024. Unfortunately, so many decisions across the world are made without God at their center. In fact, most of the time it can feel like there are no good options moving forward. But patriotism is still a virtue, and a virtue that could lead to genuine healing in our society.
St. Joan of Arc, the Hundred Year’s War.
Joan of Arc was a French maiden who God asked to lead her nation to victory in the Hundred Year’s War. There are many books about her life, but her story centers around the virtue of patriotism. In the Hundred Year’s War, neither side could be called “right.” In the 1400’s, England and France warred over territories. Battle over kingship and land is literally how the world was shaped. While England’s king led his men to many victories, the king of France cowered from the war. Joan was a young woman dutifully praying for her country. She had a love for France and wanted to see her homeland preserved . Thus, God sent the archangel Michael to tell Joan she would lead France to victory.
Joan fought for her country, speaking to King Philip himself insisting he return to his place on the French throne. She led men into battle. Joan was injured and eventually captured. But her actions led France to victory over England, all for the service of God. This young woman died at age nineteen, but she died a hero because of the virtue of patriotism.
Are You Willing to Fight?
Hopefully none of us are called by God to ride into battle to save our country. But that is only because other men and women have already died for our freedom. There are too many reasons to count to not be proud of our country. Yet, there are millions of lives we should absolutely be proud of. Every stripe on our flag symbolizes the sacrifice made to create it. Each star marks a state where we can worship our God and raise our children. We may be far from the ideals of One Nation Under God. But we should still claim ourselves and our country for the Lord.
Patriotism, piety toward our country, means rendering due respect to our nation. No matter what our home has become, this is our home. That should be honored. It should be fought for. Joan didn’t grow up in a perfect France, but she fought to her last breath to make it a better place. How much less are we called to do today?