2. A Patriot’s Sacrifice for King, People and Country

World Scripture

By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How shall we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
Psalm 137.1-6

Mordecai told him… the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews… and charged Esther to go to the king to make supplication to him and entreat him for her people…
Then Esther… [sent] a message to Mordecai, saying, “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law; all alike are to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter that he may live. And I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.
Then Mordecai told them to return answer to Esther, “Think not that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
Esther 4.7-16

The name of peace is sweet, and the thing itself is beneficial, but there is a great difference between peace and servitude. Peace is freedom in tranquility; servitude is the worst of all evils, to be resisted not only by war, but even by death.
Marcus Tullius Cicero⁸ (Hellenism)

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Patrick Henry⁹

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
Nathan Hale⁶

Though this frame should die and die, though I die a hundred times, My bleached bones all turn to dust, my very soul exist or not— What can change the undivided heart that glows with faith toward my lord?⁷
Chong Mongju, Tan Shim Ga (Confucianism)

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”
Sir Winston Churchill¹⁰

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

A nation needs patriots. Patriotism—love of country—is the tow-line that moves a nation forward. A patriot cannot abandon his nation; even if he leaves, he vows to return one day.¹¹ So strong is that tow-line that, for the sake of the suffering people of his land, a patriot will spurn personal success and does not mind enduring hardships. The power of love makes this possible.
(175:204, April 17, 1988)

Out of love for their land and their nation, patriots fought against all conditions of oppression. They hoped for the day of victory and had unshakable faith that such a day would surely come. That is how they could resist the oppressors and carry on their struggle.
(5:321, March 1, 1959)

Why do the Korean people revere Yu Gwansoon as a patriot? Was she merely a young girl who died miserably at the hands of the Japanese police? It is because for the sake of her nation she accounted her life worthless; she loved her nation and her people more than her life.
(141:293, March 2, 1986)

A patriot might live in poverty and eat nothing but salt soup and barley rice, but when a foreigner comes to visit he prepares the finest meal. He thinks that he must not expose his poverty, out of concern for his nation’s honor. We too should not behave lightly, exposing our petty squabbles while forgetting our nation’s honor. Be patriots, who strive to present their nation in a beautiful light.
(26:136, October 19, 1969)

Patriots should love three things: the sovereign, the land and the people. These are the three elements that comprise a nation. A patriot should love all three with true love. To do so, he must invest his family, devoting it for the welfare of the nation… By no logic in the universe can you become a patriot by putting your family first. Love always strives to connect with something greater.
(207:251, November 11, 1990)

True love is the starting point of all ideals; its action continues for eternity. When young people possess it, they will possess a power stronger than life itself. With true love, they will acquire a new outlook on their country. When young people acquire such a new outlook, their country will discover new possibilities for advancement. When diverse interest groups in the nation adopt an attitude based on true love, they will be able to rise above their conflicting interests and create a society of cooperation, harmony and progress.
True love of country manifests as sacrificial and patriotic loyalty. This is the primary force that moves a country forward. Each of the numerous national heroes whom we respect today exemplified a life of patriotic sacrifice rooted in true love.
(288:201, November 28, 1997)