Chapter 3

How Do Nationalist Loyalties Shape People's Choices?

Some synonyms for loyalty are commitment, faithfulness and devotion. Staying true to an idea, cause, nation or even yourself. When you are faced with a decision, they loyalties that you have can affect the choice that you make. Choices you make based on loyalty range from little decisions that require little thought to big decisions that require great sacrifice. Sometimes loyalty competes with your own interest.  For example, if two of your favourite sports teams are competing against each other in a tournament, which team are you going to choose to cheer for. Of course you like both teams, but you might feel that you have to be loyal to one team over the other. Your loyalties as a person and the beliefs and values you have might influence which team you choose over the other. This conflict represents a choice you might have to make based on loyalties.

Patriotism is defined as a love and devotion to one's country. Patriotism inspires feeling of love and hope in many people. Patriotism can show itself in the form of fighting for your country, parades and putting up a flag in or outside your home. Loyalty is a behaviour that can result from patriotism. A lot of the decisions we make based on loyalty involve our love and devotion to our country, or, patriotism.

Loyalties to your country can often greatly affect your decisions. For example, if you feel loyal to France, you might participate in a celebration on Bastille Day on July 14. If you are loyal to Canada, you might join a political party or environmental group. You can be loyal to one country, even though you are not immersed in that culture. You may be living in Canada, but still loyal to another nations such as Germany or Finland. Maybe your parents are from there and you feel as though that culture is a part of who you are. This is an example of how you can be loyal to a nation without being submerged in that culture constantly.

Contending loyalties, are loyalties that compete. Choosing between two loyalties can be difficult, and your attachments to those loyalties can influence your decisions. If you had two commitments which overlapped each other, you have to choose which one of them is the most important to you. You must consider which loyalties are important to you, and base your decision on those loyalties, and how they are involved in your life.