dictionary - the showing of great love for one's country

Azizi, thanks for posting the quote, as I agree with Mark Twain and Barack Obama on the subject of patriotism.

When parents love their children, they correct their behavior, they give them boundaries of what is acceptable. Many of us speak up in dissent to our government because we love the country enough to fight for correcting the bad behavior.

Alanabit, you also asked what made us proud of our country.
The weird thing is, I was raised in my immigrant Irish family loving Ireland more than the US. Ireland had this idealized glow about it, the land that our grandfather had to leave, even though he was a patriot and loved Ireland with fervor. It was too hard to try to keep living there at the time. So we had this land we were not born in that was held up with love and devotion for its music, writing, culture, etc. With another grandfather who was a part of the labor movement in the USA, we grew up critical of America, but loving it with the hope that the government could make us proud of the bill of rights, the declaration of independence, and bring about more fairness and equality for its citizens. So, we were not so proud of America, as hoping it would improve and that it would accomplish the ideals of the constitution.

Boundaries, countries, flags. are merely human concepts. I'm a citizen of the planet first of all. The natural beauty where I live is something the USA did not create, but I am proud that beautiful places have been preserved, like Yellowstone and the other state and national parks. I'm proud that we have, for the most part, encouraged individual creativity, invention and research, and all the life improvements that come from the scientific successes.

Alice