Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Proud to be An American

As I write this piece, Memorial Day is just around the corner. By the time it is published, the holiday will have passed. It is never too late to mention Memorial Day or its purpose. It exists to remind us of the brave men and women who gave their lives in defense of American freedoms. As many speakers throughout the cities, towns and hamlets of America reminded their audiences on Memorial Day, freedom is not free. Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a wide gap in the morality code of our country and others, not so blessed to have the Judeo-Christian ethic as a guideline. That is why we cherish freedom of speech, religion, press and so forth; that is why we see man as master of the state, and not servant of the state. That is why we embrace, at least in principle, a democratic republic. It comes close to the old Hebrew ideal of representatives from each tribe of Israel meeting to determine the country’s fate. America may have its faults, but it is still the land to which freedom seeking people come. The willingness of some to sacrifice their lives so that others may live in freedom is always a cause for wonder. Near my home is a small cemetery containing the remains of Revolutionary War soldiers. There are only four graves, but they fought for me and you over two hundred years ago. By the time you read this article, I will have paid my respects to them. There are the Civil War heroes, the heroes from World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. They all, those who perished and those who survived, fought for a cause they considered more important than their own lives. They did not volunteer to die, but to fight for freedom and American values. Take time to reflect upon the values that have made America a bastion of freedom. Pray that we retain the values that have made us that bastion. Pray for people in other lands, where freedom and Judeo-Christianity is unknown. In 1982, President Reagan made the following statement on Memorial Day. “I can’t claim to know the words of all the national anthems in the world, but I don’t know of any other that ends with a question and a challenge as ours does: Does that flag still wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? That is what we must all ask.” I am … proud to be an American.