Sad Old Flag

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.  (Psalm 33:12)

As we prepare to celebrate the 237^th anniversary of our nation’s birth, I wanted to write a celebratory message to beat the drum and sound the trumpet for America’s greatness, but as I thought about it, I could find little to celebrate. Yes, I could talk about America’s great history. I could write about the wisdom of our founding fathers that framed a government from and of the people – a government that recognized that liberty was derived from God and not from a ruling class. I could write about the Christian heritage that guided the founders, and how the majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were pastors or graduates of seminaries. Of the 56 signers, only two were Deists – Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin – and there were no atheists. (How could an atheist conceive that liberty comes from God!) I could write about the wisdom contained in the few words of our national law – the Constitution of the United States of America. I could write about how God has blessed and protected this nation above any other for more than 200 years making  us the richest nation in the world and the strongest militarily power in the world – all gifts from God to whom all credit is due.

There is so much I could say, most of which has been repeated countless times albeit to a mostly deaf audience. It seems to me – perhaps I am just getting old and curmudgeony – that the majority of our populous has little appreciation for the greatness of our nation, much less any love for her. My youngest son, who claims to be  politically Conservative (a Libertarian, actually), and is very interested and involved in politics, remarks that America is not all that great. America is no better than any other nation in the world. The world hates us because we are big bullies imposing our will on people that don’t want it. Our politics are corrupt; we cannot trust the people running our government. He has no idea how deeply that wounds me as a Vietnam Era Veteran that served four years active duty and eight years in the Naval Reserves. I take great pride in my country and my flag. When I entered military service, I took an oath, under God, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. When I left the service, I do not recall that oath having been rescinded. In my view, that oath is still in effect.

I still love my country, and I love my flag. I love what they stand for, or perhaps more accurately, what they used to stand for. I am not sure anymore if this is the country and flag I swore to defend and protect. The Constitution is still valid, in a manner of speaking, but it has been so trampled by power-hungry oligarchs that its only remaining value is to be touted in self-serving rhetoric by unscrupulous politicians. Many rules and regulations have been enacted by unelected bureaucrats which, if each is measured by that founding document, would be found unlawful. Yet there they are, put in place to circumvent and supersede the Law of the Land.

Although the current administration, along with the other two branches of government, are indisputably the worst violators in the history of this nation, they are not the first or the only ones to place political gains above the welfare of the nation. This is nothing new. It has been happening for at least 100 years, but like so many others, I had faith and trust that our elected officials genuinely held the interest of the nation as a sacred trust. How naïve and gullible I was!

But our ignorance is not solely to blame; neither can the entire fault be assigned to our less-than-honorable elected leaders. No, these United States of America is a government “of the people.” It is the collective body of all Americans that must shoulder the blame for the disrepair into which our nation has degenerated. It is the collective body of all Americans that has jettisoned God from the public arena. It is the collective body of all Americans that has sanctioned the murder of millions of unborn babies. It is the collective body of all Americans that has bowed to political correctness in allowing sodomy to have equal standing with what God has designed for the home and family. It is the collective body of all Americans that has allowed the subjugation of half of the citizenry by making them dependent on government subsidies. And while Christians may be saying, “Not us,” allow me to remove that air of self-righteousness by reminding us of the words of Edmund Burke: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” We, Christians, have kept silent too long and have allowed this to happen. Yes, I hear the outcry now, but it may already be too late.

America is not the country that I remember. It is not the country that I desire for my children and my grandchildren – not in this current state. But there is hope. While there is life, there is hope. There are two solutions to our current estate. First (and my preference), is the return of our Lord to redeem His creation. Nothing that man can achieve, politically or economically, can compare to the rule of law and peace that only He can bring. The second is a call to God’s people, for God said, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). More than pray, in this nation of “We the people,” we must get actively involved in the doings of our government and take back the control granted to us by our Constitution and the liberty that is granted to us by our Creator.

I vow to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic, and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, so help me God.