Patriotism

This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, political, or historical aspects.

The French word's compatriote and patriote originated directly from Late Latin patriota "fellow-countryman" in the 6th century.

The term patriot was "applied to barbarians who were perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive and who had only a common Patris or fatherland."

The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality.

It was argued that clerics should not be allowed to teach in public schools since their patrie was heaven, so they could not inspire a love of the homeland in their students.

[citation needed] Many patriotic people take pride in sharing a distinct, common culture, believing it to be central to their national identity and unity.

This is the opposite of the separation of church and state demanded by the Enlightenment thinkers who saw patriotism and faith as similar and opposed forces.

Michael Billig and Jean Bethke Elshtain both argued that the difference between patriotism and faith is difficult to discern and relies largely on the attitude of the one doing the labeling.

[13] Christopher Heath Wellman, professor of philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis, says a popular view of the "patriotist" position is robust obligations to compatriots and only minimal samaritan responsibilities to foreigners.

[14] Wellman calls this position "patriotist" rather than "nationalist" to single out the members of territorial, political units rather than cultural groups.

On one hand, Karl Marx famously stated that "The working men have no country"[18] and that "the supremacy of the proletariat will cause [national differences] to vanish still faster."

The same view is promoted by present-day Trotskyists such as Alan Woods, who is "in favor of tearing down all frontiers and creating a socialist world commonwealth.

[23]In the European Union, thinkers such as Jürgen Habermas have advocated a "Euro-patriotism", but patriotism in Europe is usually directed at the nation-state and more often than not coincides with "Euroscepticism".