It’s the month of March and the school calendar says that it’s sports season. Working as ambulance staff with the Saint Lucia Red Cross, I have attended most sports meets for primary and secondary schools within the north of the island upon request for medical coverage.
In doing so, a particular issue has raised its head at a number of the meets. It is protocol that during such events, the schools have opening ceremonies, and my coworker has taken offense on each occasion that a particular school has decided to pray before the playing of the national anthem.
“What crap is that?” he begins. “Every year you have to tell these schools the same thing; anthem before prayers!” he states firmly.
Taken completely off guard by the tenacity of his tone and the comment itself, I tackled him immediately following the final brass note of the anthem.
“What?” I asked quizzically.
“The anthem is supposed to be played before you pray! Country comes first! You never heard that before?”
Still very much surprised by the staunchness in his voice, I answered that I am aware of that, but not before God. He carried on about his country first policy and I just gave in. My partner is as much of a strong headed individual as you can find, and trust me, that in itself is an understatement.
We would have this argument on every occasion that this occurred, until last week I had really had enough. And before composing myself for the national anthem, I took him on.
“Yo, you need to stop with this b***shit!” Country first my a**! Who made each and every one of us standing here today? Who created this freaking country? Talking that crap about country first. God over everything!” I enforced.
And you can trust that he didn’t back down. But I had passionately stated my case, and satisfied with my argument, I then stood at attention waiting for the first notes of the school band. Meanwhile, he continued fervently until a senior nurse had to remind him why he was actually standing.
The episode had irritated me a bit and sitting alone, the quiet moments that followed withdrew a popular question among others. What exactly is patriotism? In what instances does this “country first” expression take effect? What is norm and what is “law”; and have we yet again been misinformed? Questions that definitely deserve answers.
As a primary school student, I felt certain that I had a principal who contained an ideal blend of patriotism and Christianity. She had no compromise for prayers and national pride, but whatever the occasion we always prayed first then recited the national pledge, and then the national anthem. Her words still resound audibly in my head; “Put God first! Try your best and God will do the rest!” and “Take pride in your country, country comes before self!” So considering this, was I, (and I’m sure majority of Saint Lucians) guided by the wrong principle?
I grew up accepting that, ‘country before self’, implied that, in a situation where I had conflicting interests or opportunities, my obvious choice would be to represent my country. Even in sports we were taught, that your allegiance is to your country first, then your district and then your club or self, depending on team or individual sport. As a footballer, I never played at the national level, but I always had chills when called upon to represent my community. So was I wrong to be of my opinion?
Another interesting fact to note, is that my coworker is/was a member of the cadet corps, while I have never been a member of any uniformed group except as an EMT. Was he right about his anthem claims? Or, was he just being over zealous, dogmatic and arbitrary like cadets presumably are?
The more I attempted to make sense of this issue of patriotism, the deeper I sank with uncertainty. And considering that only 14 days prior Saint Lucia celebrated its Ruby (40th) Independence anniversary, still I desired a definite illustration. The erecting of flags, donning our national colors, the parades and concerts, all portrayed national pride; so with that being said, national pride equals patriotism, right?
According to the Oxford Study dictionary, a patriot is defined as ‘a patriotic person’, while the word patriotic is explained as ‘loyally supporting one’s country’. These ambiguous definitions left me as uncertain as my initial anthem argument. So I turned to my very reliable Twitter followers for some clarification. The first two followers shared the same sentiments as myself. I had better luck with the third follower, who cited a reliable source.
“At national events, the anthem MUST be played prior to prayers. Among other things, the constitution allows for non believers, and places State ABOVE religion. At other events, it’s the organiser’s choice to determine which comes first.”
The quote all but validated my coworker’s statements, all to my discontentment. The constitution, is a body of fundamental principles or established precedents for which the State is governed by; meaning the laws which the people are to follow. If it clearly affirms that the State comes before religion, and religion is the tool by which the majority serve God, then why are we preaching that we should put God first? Put God first when? In times of despair? Forgive me for assuming the worst and being cynical, but maybe that’s why we tend to call upon him in situations which are beyond the State’s control. Constitution justified? I digress.
Every Independence anniversary and National Day celebration, the question inevitably resurfaces. What does it mean to be patriotic? Like the Oxford dictionary, the answer for most is an equivocal one. I believe that one should be proud of his or her country of origin, its statutes and history; but my opinion of patriotism is way beyond national observances. It is based on love and respect for our fellow countrymen, and taking pride in being law abiding citizens. Each person relentless in their pursuit of personal development whilst adopting the ‘live and let live’ approach, and enabling for a productive Saint Lucia. After all, what is a country without its populace? A mere state. See what I did there?
Oh! Just in case you’re wondering whether I’ve accepted the protocol of national anthem before prayers, permit me to answer you in the form of uniformed personnel; Sir, no sir!
