By David Hegg

The past decade has been littered with changing views on patriotism. For some, it remains a devotion to love, support, and defend America, its people, and its interests. For others, it means quite the opposite, as in using whatever means necessary — including demeaning rhetoric and even violence — to tear down, obstruct, and replace whatever they believe restricts their personal views or freedoms.

I often hear the strident voice of those who see themselves as the heirs to the radicalism of the Founding Fathers who fomented massive rebellion through acts like the Boston Tea Party and the use of firearms on the Lexington Village Green and the Old North Bridge in Concord.

Of course, we cannot escape the fact our country was, in some ways, birthed in insurrection and rebellion, even as we argue that throwing tea into the sea while masquerading as Native Americans was appropriate.

However, the simple question of ethical patriotism is at issue today. How do we support, defend, and love our country and its people ethically? How do we live out a reasoned and profitable patriotism that never becomes........

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