By Cody Johnson
Did you know that the United States’ oldest surviving daily newspaper was founded in Philadelphia?
The Philadelphia Inquirer has been published every day since September 21, 1784, sometimes under a different name. The Inquirer’s predecessor was even the first newspaper to publish George Washington’s Farewell Address. Our nation is built on news. And it seems appropriate that Americans’ ritual of reading the daily news began in Philadelphia, “the City of Brotherly Love.”
As a community of Americans, we have obligations. There are civic obligations (obeying the law, paying taxes) and civic responsibilities (voting, community engagement). We do these things because we love our country — and furthermore, because we love each other.
Some people say that love does not discriminate. But we necessarily discriminate between our friends and enemies; friends receive love that enemies do not. That is philia, or filial love.
Philia demands more than other kinds of love. Agape — the word Christ uses when He says to “love your enemies” — does not discriminate. Philia, on the other hand, describes love between close friends or brothers, like David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel. It makes us feel loved and safe, like people in a perfect city. This was William Penn’s vision for Philadelphia.
Americans are bound to each other by filial love. To love America is to love Americans and to love them especially. We afford each other rights and privileges because of our shared love and community.
Loving someone in this way requires knowing them and their needs. You cannot treat your professor to their favorite food without first knowing what their favorite food is. Knowing your professor’s favorite food is a prerequisite if you want to love them filially. Knowledge is an obligation.
The same obligation extends to the country and people you love. It is impossible to love them fully without first knowing them.
Last weekend, I attended a conference at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and heard from scholars in foreign policy, technology, and culture. I felt disconnected from those conversations because they were not happening on our campus. Students stare blankly at professors when asked about current events. We do not engage with news on a regular basis, so our conversations remain theoretical and opinionated.
We joke about the Houghton bubble, and it has its merits, but the Houghton bubble is dangerous to civic engagement. We become so focused on our present community that we disengage from the rest of the world. While you are at Houghton, you are simultaneously in Allegany County, New York, the United States, and the world. Brotherly love extends beyond Houghton and demands that we learn about the world we live in. When was the last time you read a newspaper that wasn’t The Star?
Staying informed is a commitment; it requires time that we could commit to other interests or relationships. Nonetheless, it is the same commitment we make to our closest friends: to listen to what is happening in their lives and love them better accordingly. Your friend complains about being tired, and you buy them a latte from Java.
We must make the same commitment to our country — not to buy it coffee, but to learn and respond to its events. Staying informed allows you to engage with the world intelligently.
Love — even and especially between brothers — does not guarantee agreement. Conversations between well-informed people will be uncomfortable as you learn and grow, but that is part of our civic obligation.
My daily ritual has been to delete The New York Times’s morning newsletter from my inbox without opening it. This week, I am changing that out of love for America and my fellow Americans. It takes five minutes to read the headlines and learn what is happening in our brothers’ and sisters’ lives in the United States and abroad. Pick up an old-fashioned newspaper and reclaim the media tradition our nation is built on. Follow a specific issue, journalist, or scholar. By engaging with the news, you demonstrate filial love for the people around you.
With whatever means necessary, it is time for us to step outside the Houghton bubble. ★
