I think some defining is in order.

If you relate on a community/cultural level (as a few posters have said), you aren't talking about patriotism, IMO, but of communitarianism.

I think artbrooks and azizi are talking more about what it means to live in a pluralist society, than about patriotism.

And some people, I believe, confuse cultural chauvinism with patriotism too.

The simple definition of patriotism is, from Websters:

"Love for or devotion to one's country"

The dictionary definition over at OED is more in line with my thinking. When you type 'patriotism' in the search bar, you get three entries as hits: 1) chauvanism; 2) patriot; 3) jingoism.

The way I view patriotism in the US today is that it is being manipulated and abused as a form of nationalist devotion and warrior worship in the US warrior nation-state.

It is very important to remember the rise of patriotism coincides with the rise of the nation-state, and begins in earnest in the 18th & 19th centuries in Europe. It isn't a universal concept, shared by all peoples. Patriotism is the product of imperialism and nation building.