I'm certain that St. John Paul the Great was not confused about the topic he was speaking of when referring to "nationalism."Wosbald's signature line wrote:"Nationalism … is thus the antithesis of true patriotism, and today we must ensure that extreme nationalism does not continue to give rise to new forms of the aberrations of totalitarianism."
— Pope John Paul II, Address to the UN
John Paul II respected the patriotism of his native Poland. He worked closely with Lech Wałęsa, leader of the Solidarity independence movement and first President of newly reborn Republic of Poland.
On the other hand, John Paul saw firsthand the dangerous nationalism of the Nazis, and whatever we should call the nationalistic terror of Stalin.
Is there anything in America that resembles the "nationalism" that JPII condemns?
- Perhaps the ongoing devotion to mask and vaccine mandates and covid restrictions?
- Or the indoctrination of children with woke gender and race theories in our public schools?
- Or taking over the news media and social media to propagate the government message and suppressing other opinions?
- Acts by government officials in recent years to suppress the free exercise of religion?
I'm looking for JPII's "new forms of the aberrations of totalitarianism" in our present society as signs of "nationalism." Am I on the right track? It seems that JPII's "nationalism" is Orwellian devotion to government policy. And it looks a lot like Soviet communism.
It seems to me that Democrat policies are often the "nationalism" to be feared, broadly writ.
I am ready to be sharpened or corrected.