OpEd Page
One Nation, Under God
Our nation, the United States of America, was founded on the blood of our forefathers and a people who held certain truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Fifty-six men signed a Declaration of Independence from which a free nation was born whose Constitution has been sustained through eleven major wars from the American Revolution to the Civil War to the Gulf War.
According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, 1,090,200 service members died in service fighting to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. To defend unalienable rights, to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. In another word: Freedom. Of our honored dead, this does not include the deaths relative to the Bay of Pigs, Grenada, Beirut, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Kosovo, the bombing of the USS Cole, and the War on Terrorism that we now find ourselves prosecuting. There are no civilian numbers available. As we know, civilians have died in the name of freedom.
". . .One Nation, Under God, Indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All."
Somewhere between 1775, when Americans were willing to mount any battle, suffer any hardship to guarantee our freedoms, to today, we have become so politically correct that we have taken the Creator and/or God out of the public, including our Public Schools, Universities, Courts and Public Buildings. If our forefathers did not want God mentioned, why, then, would they frame the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence by invoking rights endowed upon us by the Creator? The very last line of the Declaration of Independence states, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
". . .with firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence. . ." If our forefathers believed that we should repel anything and everything remotely relating to God, whatever you conceive God to be, why would they feel it important to invoke "the protection of divine Providence" in the very last line of the document which shaped the United States? Who, if not God, does the politically correct crowd, say at Berkeley, think our forefathers were invoking? The Chevy Dealer?
We have fought eleven major wars, two of them World Wars, in defense of freedom. We have honored the pledge made in support of the Declaration of Independence in that we have given our lives, fortunes and honor in preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States. Be there no mistake, the Constitution of the United States is what is at stake whenever and wherever freedom is attacked.
Which brings me to the point. September 11th. Everything changed on September 11th and yet so many things remain the same. The United States was wantonly attacked on September 11th when four commercial jetliners flying the Stars and Stripes were hijacked and slammed into buildings in New York City, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania killing thousands of Americans and people from 160 countries. It was the most horrific single attack in American history since the War Between The States. Our very freedom was attacked that day and, like I said before, when freedom is attacked it is the Constitution of the United States that is in peril.
What changed is that we became the re-United States of America. Our petty differences became just that. . .petty. We were no longer hyphenated Americans. We were no longer African-American, Italian-American, Cuban-American, Greek-American, Irish-American. We were American. Should any hyphenation be called for, then what we became are pissed-off-Americans. What remains the same is that in the days immediately following our patriotic frenzy, those politically correct talking heads came out from wherever they were shaking from to make sure that no US Flag was shown on certain news broadcasts; that US Flags were removed from fire engines, police cars and ambulances of certain municipalities; the Pledge of Allegiance to the very flag that represents our Constitution was not recited in certain municipalities and God was not allowed to be thanked, in certain municipalities, for being generous in the saved lives department of the day. My friends, that is an attack on our Declaration of Independence and calls dishonor to our pledge of our lives, fortune and honor. When is it time to be American again?
Our President, who has handled this national emergency with calm resolve and intellect, in my opinion, had to apologize for using the word crusade in describing the action that our military and those of our allies were about to embark upon because the very word crusade might make our Arab associates un-easy. In my opinion, some of our Arab associates should be more un-easy over whatever culpability they may have had in the unprovoked attack of September 11th. Because we will find out. And we will hold them responsible. At least under the present Administration. THANK GOD.
We have become so politically correct that we have come very close to forgetting how to preserve, protect and defend our freedom. And our freedom begins with the Creator, whatever we conceive Him to be. Which means we have the freedom not to believe, but that does not mean that we should be barred from invoking divine Providence; it means that those who do not believe simply do not have to listen to that invocation. To remove such an invocation altogether is an abdication of our responsibility as citizens of the United States, in my opinion. When we start abdicating our rights to invoke our beliefs in deference to those who do not believe, then I fear that we disavow our pledge to commit our lives, our fortunes and our honor to all those who have died for freedom. Military and Civilian. We are no longer of the people, by the people and for the people. We are of the few not the many. Abdication. Isn't it time that we start re-honoring our pledge?
As someone who was personally and profoundly effected by the portion of the September 11th attack on the twin towers in New York City, as someone who often goes to what has become known as the "Ground Zero," I remember the ironic words of another man who was thrust into an unwanted war at the beginning of his Presidency. Whenever I go to what has become hallowed grounds here in my home city, I remember President Lincoln's words spoken at another hallowed ground of his time in Gettysburg Pennsylvania:
"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from this earth."
It is as appropriate today as it was then. Let's remember that we are a nation, under God, and we have been re-United, our freedom reborn, unyielding to terror or any action that would inhibit or prohibit our freedom in any way. Any action. Including but not limited to political correctness.
As the first year of the new millennium closes and we embark on the journey ahead, let us rejoice in those people who embody everything that the United States of America stands for and reject soundly out of hand anything that would change our pledge that we made while declaring our independence.
Fly your flag, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and thank the Creator for His divine Providence that there was not a much greater loss of life in that wanton attack. Seek the safety of our Troops and the success of their mission. Let's begin our journey with a simple invocation to the Creator in asking for His favor in reuniting our pledge of our lives, our fortunes and our honor to preserve, protect and defend freedom.
God Bless America.
This is just my opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Moonduster Chronicles, Operation Just Cause, our directors, volunteers or membership.
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