What is the Difference Between Nationalism & Patriotism?

[شمله ور خراساني]

As salaamu aleikoum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

Please provide a decent answer without shamelessly resorting to copying and pasting from Wikipedia.

[Levanaye Zalmaye]

Patriotism is the worship of a flag or a symbol.
Nationalism is understanding and professing love for one's heritage.

[PFgulalai]

Very concisely and nicely defined by Lev.Zal.

Just to add one more point...there is also a difference in approah:
A patriot SIMPLY loves his/her country (passive)
A nationalist expresses his/her love in a politically active manner through a practical approach such as the nonviolent movement 'Khudai Khidmatagar' by Bacha Khan Baba.

Patriotism is the worship of a flag or a symbol.
Nationalism is understanding and professing love for one's heritage.

[PFgulalai]

Nationalism is often confused with racism but there is a very clear difference between the two.
In simple words, Racism is the belief that your race/ethnicity is superior to all humans and on the basis of that rights, justice, or benefits are denied to other racial groups.
Nationalism seeks the unity of a certain ethnic group under one heritage and language. It does focus on one ethnic group but does not discriminate the rights of other ethnicites.
From above...Racism--denying rights to other on the basis of superiority
Nationalism--working for the rights and show your resentment against the discriminations.

Nationalism is when people tend to be racist in a way and demanding equality, trying to pish for there agenda.

[PFgulalai]

I still think that most of us here who call or act as nationalist have seen/observed/bore the discrimination and so our resentment towards those people is extreme enough to tag us as racist. But the thing is that we are not denying rights to them, but rather crying for our own rights.
If Pashtun is badmouthing a Punjabi, I won't call it racism because there are many reasons why he should not?

But in order to acheive the bolded part don't you end up being racist.

Take a look at every nationalist on Youtube, or any source and the minute they start talking they begin to badmouth every ethnic group they can think of for *not* giving them equal rights.

[erlangner]

in my opinion, nationalism starts wth an individual anf family and then end at univerise. However, as many said, it sticks much to the race. It may be a country and patriotism is th love for the nation or a country. But nationalism mostly goes to blood and patriotism goes to country or a state. I will say that sometimes both intermingle.

[PFgulalai]

My personal account....you observe and experience how your people are brutally killed, denied basic rights, their resources are usurped, their heritage and culture is destroyed intentioanlly, their children are made refugees, they are put in futile disputes, their language is sabotaged, and above all their future is made dark by pushing their young generation into stone age.

Very well said.

Can you explain why someone becomes a nationalist?

[PFgulalai]

No you don't.
Consider the example of White Americans and Black Americans in the USA. The Whites have high-quality lives whereas the Blacks are poor and with in few block you will see a huge difference between the wealthy Whites and the Poor Blacks. Yet Whites hate Blacks!! This is what you call racism.
In our case (Pashtuns), we have more reasons to be nationalist than racist.

Exactly, so when you experience all that dont you end up becoming racist towards the ethnic group that commited all that?

[PFgulalai]

Nationalism to me is not Racism. I am not prejudiced/discriminatory to other's people basic rights as a Nationalist. If I do, then I am a racist.
Showing resentement and working for the rights of your race through a political process (such as the exemplary Bacha Khan movement) is what I call Nationalism.

I think you are mixing prejudice and discrimation into this.

Is being nationalistic a good thing?

[PFgulalai]

Kandahary, you do not necessarily have to transform into 'racist' to show your resentment against the atrocities done by ISI.
If ISI has not done anything to you, and you think as Pashtun you need to kill or hate people to prove your superiority, then you will be call RACIST rather than NATIONALIST.

So what exactly does someone who is a nationalist does? Work for our rights right? and they complain on how ISI is out there to get us, now your telling me the next that person see's someone from ISI they will not get racist?

[erlangner]

Mr Timbaktu,
Ya nationalism is a ntural phenomenon as you said that animals are in herds etc. It is natural for one to be nationalist. But it does not mean that you will enocaourage by nationalism just siding your blood relation, but it helps much as you can stop your language, culture and blood fellow much better than any one else can do. Religions encourage nationalism in one or another way. I can say about Islam that it encourages.
But what you said about faiths, which also do same things. See all the religions of the world, what people having hindu religion and faith. Same about Muslims and christians, where they sided always with the people of their faith without thinking they are right or worng.
Then come to economic ideologies, like socialism, imperialism, communism etc, and I think you know well than me, what happened there and what is happening till now due to these systems.
Then the division of states, which is another type of faith, and same is happening where USA can go to any extreme to revenge her 3000 people in 9/11, and almost all the countires are doing the same.
Just see the example of Turkey and Israell today? Israeel is saying their soldiers did not do anything wrong and they are protecting and encouraging, why, because they are jews or israeli. We Pakistani are protesting, talking advocating Aafia siddiqui without enquiring, what wrong she did, just as she is Pakistani.
All this mean that to side your faith, country, belief, ideology is natural, but the bad luck is with the nationalists who think without any such belief, faith, or ideology, but side the people, with whom he grew up, whom language he spoke and whom culture he learnt and with whom he feels happy and relaxed.
Then such nationalism and then especially for pashtuns it turned to be racism? Oh my friends it is not racism.
Ghani Khan says,
To be neutral you need to be a stone or a lunatic, otherwise being a human, one must be biased.

[erlangner]

Her definition is not necessarily the right one. As the thread says, what is our opinion on this and what believe it to be. Gulalai's version of nationalism is not the one that everyone subscribes to. It seems like a more waterdowned version of nationalism.

To me nationalism is based on ethnicity/geography/language/culture etc. Nationalism seeks unity based on these principles. It means we shold be united because we have the above mentioned things in common.

All I am saying that it is a very naive belief to base unity on such lowly principles and ignore the far more significant things like truth, faith, justice and other more noble principles befitting of "ashraful makhloqat".

I can exemplify this Ashraful makhlooqat on basis of truth, faith, so and so. When Mehmood of Ghanzna, attacked somnat and brought all the wealth as he need it against Iran much. WHy Muslims till today did not have the power to condemn? He did this in name of islam, and it was wrong.
Again Muhamamd Bin qasim attacked debil to release the girls sent to hajjaj by king of sarndeep and we cannot condemn it, because he was muslim.
I can give you 100,s of examples of faith and religion where people are biased towards religion and faith and forget the truth and realities.
But Nationalism on the basis of common language (why one needs language), this is the humanly thing, other animals cannot do. On base of culture, which humans can only differentiate and anmals cannot do this.
It means in the same environment, same geography, same culture, same people, same language you feel relaxed, and love for all these is called nationalism.

[شمله ور خراساني]

I can exemplify this Ashraful makhlooqat on basis of truth, faith, so and so. When Mehmood of Ghanzna, attacked somnat and brought all the wealth as he need it against Iran much. WHy Muslims till today did not have the power to condemn? He did this in name of islam, and it was wrong.
Again Muhamamd Bin qasim attacked debil to release the girls sent to hajjaj by king of sarndeep and we cannot condemn it, because he was muslim.
I can give you 100,s of examples of faith and religion where people are biased towards religion and faith and forget the truth and realities.
But Nationalism on the basis of common language (why one needs language), this is the humanly thing, other animals cannot do. On base of culture, which humans can only differentiate and anmals cannot do this.
It means in the same environment, same geography, same culture, same people, same language you feel relaxed, and love for all these is called nationalism.

have you ever condemned your bagwan, ghani khan who was a pervert and degenerate author suffering from alcohol addiction?

[erlangner]

Erlangner, so I take it that you are in favor of Pashtun Nationalism?

I am in favour of any type of nationalism. I like each nationalist. As I am pashtun, so I am in favour of Pashtun nationalism.

[PFgulalai]

I agree...there are possible chances of nationalism and racism to overlap...and for that reason some consider nationalism as 'threat to peace'.But whether Afghan or Black, we are humans first. Nationalism comes secondary to our first identity of being human. I know many Pashtun fellows who call themselves Pashtuns first rather than humans. One of my uncles think that the 'insaan bachee' are only Pashtuns. Such views are way too extreme as a believer in humanity.
There is no less or more nationalism. The objective is pretty clear--working for the right of your race to statehood.
Example:Too many I might appear racist rather than nationalist if I show my hatred towards Punjabis but there are many reasons that would justify that in my opinion, but to others, it won't.I would be called racist.

But isn't that what it comes down to? Isn't that how our mind works? You need to look at this from a more psychological way, Too much nationalism in your head ends up making the person racist.

Take a look at Afghan mellat. They are Pashtun nationalists.