"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation UNDER GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
So maybe with the elections right around the corner, and our country going through what appears to be another cultural revolution, I might be beating this poor horse to death. A friend of mine asked me to copy and paste onto my Facebook page the pledge of allegiance. For everyone that thinks it's cool to kneel during the anthem and disrespect the flag, maybe they should remember the pledge. I often wonder how broken we are as a country.
*You* pledge allegiance to the flag. It represents you as an individual and you status as a citizen. The flag which (despite some people's claims) represents freedom and liberty. Those freedoms and liberties that our spelled out for us in the constitution that represent each and every one of us who are born here, who work or have worked to obtain citizenship in this country,
AND the Republic for which it stands. A form of government in which the powers of sovereignty are authorized and entrusted in the people and are executed by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially appointed. We are unique in our form of government being a democratic republic. Unlike any nation on earth.
One nation: Not a divided America as many would have us be right now, but united by our common citizenry and purpose. United in vision and purpose for a better life.
Under God. Whether you believe in God or not (and I think you should, but that is beside the point), it points to something larger than ourselves. It recognizes that there is something going on here that is bigger than us as individuals and us as a collective nation. It tells us that we don't have to go it alone, and when things go wrong, there is a higher power ruling over everything, guiding and directing us.
Indivisible: Impenetrable, inseparable, joined, permanent,unbreakable, unified indissoluble. What we should be striving for as a nation.Recognizing that there are those that seek to tear us apart from within and from without.
With liberty and justice for all: meaning that we as Americans and our government are obligated to ensure that we (citizens) are all treated with equity, recognizing that we are all created in God's image, endowed with certain inalienable rights, no matter our race, creed or color. That justice isn't for just the elite, but for all men. This is different from mercy or grace. Justice means that we deal with fairness, honesty and integrity towards everyone and everything we do. Liberty is a grace, it is undeserved, so liberty and justice are in a sense, grace and fairness met.
Think of Lincoln's own words and see if they are applicable today:“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
We have terrorism, ISIS, Data hacks from foreign nations, countries developing nuclear capabilities, yet I can't help thinking that if we don't get our acts together, we are going to be the ones who destroy this country. Not Russia, not ISIS, not Iran or North Korea, or China...Us. We need to get back to basics. What was this country founded on? What made us a great nation? There was a time when we were regarded and the land of milk and honey. It wasn't that long ago. We still have a chance to recover it.
Something to think about.
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