Patriotism is a form of religious devotion
true
Side Score: 9
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false
Side Score: 3
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Patriotism is a devotion, just as religion is a devotion. Devotions both of them to fictions. The stories people tell propagate and is the real difference between us and the animals. We progress because we remember our predecessors (or, more precisely, we remember the stories our predecessors told). Were it not for these stories, each successive generation would be a tabula rasa, having to begin society anew. Dogs do not talk in a systematic way to each other; they do not perpetuate fictions as we do. They have no discernible concept of a nation or a religion, and so they have devotion to neither. What they do understand is what is right before their eyes: they understand - or so some may think - loyalty and love to their master. They understand the natural world that is right in front of them; humans, with our fictive language, understand a fictive world where gods cast down thunderbolts and cause the ground to open up and eat people alive, and Uncle Sam who just so fucking happens to want YOU to enlist, and go kill and be killed for something that only exists (for better or worse) in our minds. So, yes, patriotism and religion both fall into the same category: they are both fictions created by the stories people tell. Side: true
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Religious devotion is dependent on faith, and surety in the unknown. Patriotism has little to do with faith, only in the sense that patriots have faith that their country is the best but ultimately the faith is in a physical entity, or something we know to exist. A patriot can say "I love my country" and list off physical reasons to, even if those reasons aren't necessarily unbiased, or entirely true, they still fall within the realm of possibly true. An example of this is how an American patriot might say "I love my country, because everyone is free" Now while it is not true that everyone is free, it is possible for everyone to be free, thus this statement isn't entirely unfounded, it's founded on the possibility of potential realities, that can exist for certain. A religious devotee however, would not be pledging alliance to anything physical, but to something purely faith based. One might say "I love God because he gave me life." I won't explain why this is not the same as what the American patriot might have said because that's pretty much an entirely different debate altogether, however I will simply say they are different. The religious devotee here, has no alternative to God giving him/her life because without God life isn't possible, while the patriot could have an alternative, the alternative being another country being more free. This is also in part why religious devotion is so hard to shake. When there's only one God, he has a monopoly on pretty much everything. I've said a lot about why I believe they are not the same, but I was expecting something in the description to sort of explain where this came from, with out that, I now feel I must ask you personally, what was the inspiration for this debate title that presumably you believe to be true. Side: false
what was the inspiration for this debate title that presumably you believe to be true. I was thinking of patriotism as "at times excessive reverence for forefathers" and my mind just made some bizarre connection with religious devotion. There is a faith intrinsic to patriotism. The faith that good results will continue to come by honoring the same principles and values put forth by "the forefathers" Side: true
Patriotism is more akin to tribal or group loyalty, which are part of a practical need for humans to band together to enhance their potential for survival.
Religious devotion comes from a belief in some deity, which stems from the human need for purpose, meaning and perseverance. Side: false
Yes and now you can see that religion is only another way in which people band together, but is unique in that the bond is for sharing a belief in a deity. Right. :-) conceived (among other reasons) as a clever way to persistently subvert political authority. Naw religion was here first. Side: true
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