Idol worship

This coming Sunday is Flag Day. I will be in Montana rafting, so regrettably I won't be able to comment on it at the time.
One of the most peculiar things I can think of in my childhood when it comes to my parents trying to raise me to be a good Mormon was the high level of patriotism they instilled in me. The classic discussion in American culture and politics is always how much involvement religion should have in shaping who we are as the American people and the phrase "separation of Church and State" has always been the representation of this difference.
But over and above this my parents, and many of the parents in the communities I grew up in, instilled in their kids a kind of country worship. We were told to stand tall, not as believers, but as Americans. We were told to unite as patriots, not as Christians. We were told that the men who died for their country were heroes, and that those we fought were the enemy, but we were never told about those martyrs who died for Jesus.
I was raised to be much more of an American and a patriot that to be a Christian and a witness. But at some point, I realized that while Americanism is limited to those who live in a particular location at a specific time, I believed that true salvation and real truth was not limited in this fashion. if America is the greatest country on earth, what of those who lived before America was a nation, or those who unfortunately live in third world countries and are unable to improve their situations?
So I decided that my nationality was not as important to me as it is to other people. Furthermore, I decided that I wanted to stand by God much more than I wanted to stand by my country. In many instances throughout time, from the Romans to the NAZIs, true Christians have had to stand up against the state. Why should I pledge myself fully to a nation that is alterable according to the whims of the people who take power?
And then comes the idea of flag worship. In my house, the American flag as a holy artifact. It should never touch the ground, it should always be flown, it should never have rips or tears, and it should never be put in a situation that was disgraceful. When the flag goes by in a parade, we salute in reverence, as if it was Jesus himself. We all stand for the national anthem and face our banner. We all act as if that flag itself is the distributor of grace and the ultimate power that we have to answer to in this life.
This is what concerns me. It is isn't that our way of life is important to us. It isn't that we honor those who lead us and protect us. It is that we worship them. We adore our system so much we impose it on some and restrict it from others, all at our own whims. We worship the government and the military. We get tattoos of the flag and hang it from our houses. We love Amerigo Vespucci, the man from whom America gets its name, more than Jesus, for whom Christianity was named.