Christianity and Patriotism
Governments cannot be rational, for subjection to a Government is a sign of the greatest irrationality.
What is the use of talking of the rationality of men who have promised beforehand to carry out every command (including the murder of other men) given them by their Government—that is, by certain men who have by chance got into the position of governing them?
Men who can take such an oath of unquestioning obedience to every order given them by men they do not know from Petersburg, Vienna, or Paris cannot be rational; and the Governments—that is, the men who possess such power—can still less be rational, and cannot but make a bad use of it, cannot but be demented by such insanely terrible power. For this reason peace between nations cannot be attained in a rational way by conventions and arbitrations, so long as the subjection of the peoples to their Governments, which is always irrational and is always pernicious, still continues.
The subjection of men to Government will always exist as long as there is patriotism, for every ruling power rests on patriotism—that is, on the readiness of men to submit to it for the sake of defending their own people and country-that is, their state-from the dangers supposed to threaten it.
The powers of the French Kings over their
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