The Northwest worker. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917, 1916-01-27

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The Johnsonion Definition, and Others
The answer depends largely upon
the point of view. From one stand
point patriotism appears as the ac'
tual religion of the modern state.
From another it is the decadence and
perversion of q noble and deep-rooted
Impulse of loyalty to the social unit,
acquired by mankind during the
earlier stages of social life. From
yet another viewpoint, that of CAPT
talist interests, patriotism is nothing
more or less than a convenient and
potent instrument of domination.
The word itself, both chronological
ly and historically, has its root in
paternity In tribal days the feeling
of social solidarity, which has now
become debased into patriotism, was
completely bound up with the religion
of ancestor worship. In tribal reli'
gion, as in the tribe itself, all were
united by ties of blood. The gods
and their rites and ceremonies were
exclusive to the tribesmen. All strang'
ers were rigidly debarred from wor-
ship. The gods themselves were usu
ally dead warriors. Every war was
a holy war. Among the ancient Israel
ties, for instance, the hold Ark OF
Jehovah of Hosts accompanied the
tribes to battle. 1t was this abode or
movable tomb of the ancestral deity
that went with the Jews in their
march through the desert, and even
to Jericho; playing an important part
in the fall of that remarkable city
All the traditions of the Jewish reli
gion, in fact, were identified with
great national triumphs.
The Merits of the Early Brand
Thus tribal religion was completely
interviewer with tribal aspirations
and integrity. Tribal patriotism"
and religion were identical. Indeed,
without the strongest possible social
bond, without kind of patriotism"
that implied the unhesitating self
sacrifice of the individual for the com
munal existence, it would have been
utterly impossible for tribal man to
have won through to civilization. Nat
ural selection insured that only those
social groups which developed this
supreme instinct of mutual aid could
survive the rest were crushed out
in the struggle for existence. Is it a
matter for wonder if it be found that
such a magnificent social impulse, so
vital to the struggling groups of trib-
al man, received periodical consecra-
ton in the willing human sacrifice so
common in primitive religious cere-
monial? Bound up with the deliber-
ate manufacture of gods for the pro
lection of the tribe and it's works,
there is indicated a social recognition
of the need for, and value of, the sac
rifice of the individual for the com
mon veal.
This noble impulse of social solidar'
ity is the common inheritance of all
mankind But being a powerful so
cial force it has lent itself to ex
ploitation. Therefore with the devel
opment of class rule this great i'm
pulse is made subordinate to the class
| interest Of the rulers. 1t becomes
debased and perverted to definite ant
social ends, AS soon as the people
+ become a slave class "the land O.
4 their fathers" is their no more. Pa
triotism to them becomes a fraudu
lent thing. The country" is that o
their masters alone Nevertheless
the instinct of loyalty to the com
munity is too deep-seated to be eradi
Gated so easily, and it becomes
deadly weapon in the hands of tn
rulers against the people themselves
With the decay of society based Of
l1inship, religion changed also; an
from being tribal and exclusive it be