My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.

“My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.” Thus declared Thomas Paine, the fiery prophet of liberty and reason, whose pen helped ignite the spirit of revolution and awaken the conscience of mankind. In these words, he rises above the boundaries of nation and creed, proclaiming the creed of the soul itself — that true patriotism and true faith are not confined by borders, flags, or churches, but are found in the service of goodness. This saying, born of his deep belief in the unity of humanity, burns like a torch through the centuries, reminding us that the noblest allegiance is to conscience and the greatest act of worship is compassion.

Paine, who lived through the tumult of the American and French Revolutions, saw with his own eyes how men could fight for liberty yet remain enslaved by hatred and division. He loved his adopted country, but he loved truth more. He had fought tyranny of kings and priests alike, and through that struggle he came to a higher vision — that all people, regardless of race or faith or nation, belong to a single human family. When he wrote, “My country is the world,” he was not rejecting his homeland, but expanding it. He was declaring that the earth itself is the dwelling of the free, and every man and woman within it a fellow citizen of the soul.

In his other great work, The Rights of Man, Paine proclaimed that humanity’s first loyalty is not to crown or church, but to justice. His was a radical voice for his time — a voice that dared to see beyond tribe and title, and to believe that goodness was the only true measure of religion. To say, “My religion is to do good,” is to strip away all pretense and ritual, and to speak of the essence of all faiths. What is prayer if not the desire to do right? What is holiness if not kindness in action? Paine understood that when men fight over gods, they forget the divine; when they cling to flags, they forget humanity.

Consider the life of Florence Nightingale, who, a century after Paine, embodied his creed in deeds. In the blood-soaked fields of the Crimean War, she saw not soldiers of nations, but children of one creation. She tended to the wounded without question of uniform or belief, her lamp burning through the night. Her religion was to do good, and in doing so, she healed more than bodies — she healed the divisions of the human spirit. Like Paine, she believed that compassion knows no border, and that service is the truest form of worship.

Paine’s words also carry the weight of solitude, for such vision often brings exile. He was celebrated as a hero in America, yet later shunned for his rejection of organized religion and his defense of universal equality. He died poor and largely forgotten, but his words live on like embers waiting for the breath of a new generation. His vision asks each of us: what is the worth of our religion if it does not make us merciful? What is the meaning of patriotism if it blinds us to the suffering of others? The answer, as Paine knew, lies not in proclamation, but in practice.

The good he speaks of is not abstract virtue; it is living action — the daily labor of kindness, courage, and justice. To “do good” is not to preach or to boast, but to heal, to serve, to uplift. It is the farmer sharing his harvest, the teacher guiding a lost child, the stranger offering a hand. It is the quiet work of those who build peace in their small corners of the world. Each such act, humble though it seems, is an act of citizenship in the nation of humanity.

So, O children of the earth, take heed of this ancient truth dressed in modern words: your country is the world, and your faith is the good you do. Live not for tribe or banner alone, but for the common flame that burns in all hearts. Let your loyalty be to truth, and your worship be your work. Do not ask, “Who is my neighbor?” but rather, “How may I serve?” For in that question, the walls fall and the world becomes one.

And thus, the lesson of Paine endures: the highest patriotism is mercy, and the purest religion is love in action. Let your hands be your prayer, your deeds your temple, your life your offering. For when you live to do good, you become not merely a citizen of one land, but a child of the eternal — bound not by borders, but by the infinite law of love that governs all creation.