By: Dr. Adnan Bozan
Saying that you love your country while crushing the dreams of others in the name of that love is not patriotism—it is a betrayal drenched in false slogans. Raising the nation's flag high while trampling the rights of the weak beneath your feet is not courage but an ugly manifestation of selfishness. Love for one’s homeland is not noise in the streets nor a clamor that drowns out the voice of truth; it is a silent act, like rain that nourishes the earth without seeking praise, bringing life wherever it falls.
What kind of love justifies oppression in the name of the homeland? What kind of devotion allows you to seize the dreams of others, confiscate their aspirations, and distort their hopes with a tongue that preaches patriotism while hands assassinate the true essence of belonging? Loving one’s country does not mean applauding the loudest voice but rather bowing down to gather the scattered values, mending the rifts left by conflict, and illuminating the path for those lost in the darkness—even if you must walk alone in the light.
To love your country means striving to make justice its balance, freedom its voice, and compassion its shade. It means ensuring that it is a warm embrace for all who live within it, regardless of their names, origins, or colors. A nation is not a carpet rolled out only for those who agree with you, nor a sword brandished against those who differ from you. It is a sanctuary for hearts before it is lines drawn on a map; it is a pulse of hope before it is a slogan chanted in the streets.
Patriotism is not about shouting at the top of your lungs, "I love my country." It is about lowering your voice just enough to hear the cries of the hungry, to understand the silence of the marginalized, and to recognize the needs of the poor who do not have the luxury of boasting about their love for the homeland, for they are too busy searching for a morsel to keep them alive. Loving your country means fighting corruption, not colluding with it; planting goodness, not reaping gains at the expense of others; building, not destroying; preserving the values that make us human before they make us citizens.
So, when you claim to love your country, ask yourself: Does your country love you as you love it? Have you loved it enough for it to love you back? Love is not a slogan to be raised but a loyalty proven in moments of truth, in times of hardship, in a person's ability to be a voice for justice, even if it costs them everything. If your love for your homeland is not woven with justice, embroidered with mercy, and surrounded by principles, then know that you are betraying it while believing you are devoted to it.