I confess I had mixed feelings about the flags, banners, and bumper stickers that sprouted up everywhere after September 11. Patriotism is a virtue, and it always is refreshing to see virtue—any virtue—on public display. We get so little of that nowadays. Our society seems to have no hesitancy in displaying vices (just try cataloguing what is pushed by the billboards you pass on your daily commute). When we see a virtue touted, we are a little surprised—and pleased. It takes our minds back to happier days.
I could not help thinking, though, that the ubiquity of the flags, banners, and bumper stickers suggested that the patriotism represented was shallow, much as a formulaic “I love you,” said too readily, suggests a shallow love.
Ditto for the religious sentiments that were expressed. “God bless America” became the most popular line in the country. People who may not have darkened the door of a church in decades suddenly were “getting right with God” —at least on the surface. That was good as far as it went, but it did not go very far.
I doubt there has been a widespread turn to God since September 11, just as I doubt there has been much of an increase in patriotism. What we have seen, while positive, have been surface manifestations. Real patriotism is rooted deeply; it does not sprout overnight. Real religiosity goes to the core of a person; it cannot be subsumed in a slogan.
Does that mean I think these displays have been fraudulent or worthless? Not at all. I just do not see them as substantial or lasting. Nevertheless, they provide Catholic evangelists with an opportunity: We have a chance to catch the attention of people whose attention usually has been anywhere except on God, but we run the risk of being lulled into inaction.
If we sit back, arms behind our heads, beaming that the unhappy events of September 11 have ushered in an era of religious devotion beyond what we could have hoped for . . . if we take that attitude, we will let slip a key opportunity. The signs and slogans went up speedily and many came down speedily. The feelings that prompted them arose as the nation watched numbing televised images, and those feelings will fade soon enough, unless they are channeled properly and quickly.
If we sit back and imagine that our work has been done for us, we will fool ourselves and end up having done our fellow Americans a disservice. Now is not the time to take a breather but to seize an opportunity. If Americans are attentive, however temporarily, to things of the spirit, we should endeavor to serve them up the real meat of the Catholic faith. While it will be too hearty a meal for some of them (slogan-loving people go for bland diets), others will be attentive to the Catholic message—but only if someone tells it to them.