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Our patriotism comes straight from the Romans. ... It is a pagan virtue, if these two words are compatible. The word pagan, when applied to Rome, early possesses the significance charged with horror which the early Christian controversialists gave it. The Romans really were an atheistic and idolatrous people; not idolatrous with regard to images made of stone or bronze, but idolatrous with regard to themselves. It is this idolatry of self which they have bequeathed to us in the form of patriotism. [p. 220]

Simone Weil#8

PoliticsIdolatryHistoryPatriotism

About this quote

What does it mean?
Patriotism is a pagan Roman legacy of self-idolatry rather than a virtue.
In plain terms
Love of country is actually idolizing the state.
What can you take from it?
Question patriotism as self-worship.

Where it applies

  • political critique
  • national identity

Putting it to work

  • analyze national loyalty

Questions to consider

  • Is patriotism inherently idolatrous?

Another view

It dismisses patriotism as purely negative without nuance.

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