E. M. Forster believed that personal relations were more important than patriotism. He stated, "I hate the idea of causes, and I hope that if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friends, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.
" In my opinion, this is a very selfish view. Many people take what our country does for us for granted and come to think that they only give to their country and do not receive anything.I believe that putting personal relations over your country labels you ignorant and self-centered For example, you find out that your brother is a spy for a rival country and is stealing information from your home country. A moral question is presented, whether to betray someone close to you for the safety of your country and turn him in for treason, or to betray your country and keep it a secret. The penalty for treason at this moment is life in prison, meaning that you would basically end your brother's life.
As hard as it would be to turn him in, I believe that when it comes to morals it is an obvious decision that you should turn him in. Even though it is someone very close to you, he has still walked down the wrong path to hurt the country you live in and threatening the lives of many others, including yours and your family members' that all have no lesser weight to what his life does. Another strong example would be in a situation of your family being held hostage over information that is vital.Imagine there is a terrorist holding a gun to a family member’s head saying that if you let the government know that they are going to bomb the United States he or she is going to shoot them. Are you truly going to let millions die so that you can let that one person live? It is a very harsh thing to say, and I love everyone in my family, but I would not be able to betray my country and live with the conscious of thousands or millions of people dead because I wanted one person I love to live.
I believe that putting personal relations over your country labels you ignorant and self-centered.If you were thinking about betraying your country, you would be thinking about betraying what has allowed you to be who you are. The country I live in, America, is known worldwide for two concepts it follows, freedoms and rights, and opportunity. Our country gives each one of us rights that are set in stone from the moment we are born that cannot be tarnished. We are allowed opportunities that without, we would be prisoners.
If anyone is ignorant to the point that they do not see these given rights as sufficient enough to put your country first, then they live blind to what a large aspect their country is in their lives.
