I don't need the American flag to show I am a patriot. Everyone who knows me, knows. I don't need to be permitted to say a pledge in a school to be a patriot. If I feel the need to pledge, I'll do it.
I don't need a court to tell me I can pray in a school, on a plane, in a court or before my dinner. If I want to pray, I'll do it. By the way, if I am in public and my praying to my Christian God offends someone, well, I won't tell you here what I would say. I'm sure you can imagine.
My point, friends is simple. Patriotism is not something you wear or wave. You do not need permission to be a patriot. You show you are one by your actions. If you want to be free, act free. If you want to be free, go out and get your freedom.
Freedom is a gift. But it must be earned with our actions. People complain all the time about a government that is unresponsive to the needs of the people. When did YOU do something about it? You as an American can do something. Write to your representative or, better yet; start a writing campaign. 1,000 letters on the same subject will get someone's attention.
Personally, I am a conservative. I believe smaller government is better government. But, currently we have no government. The legislative branch of our government is stalled in ideology. All in the name of patriotism. Of the 435 members of the house of representatives and 100 in the Senate, I'd be amazed to find 100 people who know what a real patriot is. I'd bet that all 535 of those legislators would classify themselves as patriots.
If they were patriots, we would not have had a government shutdown. If they were, the deaths of 4 Americans in Benghazi, Libya would have been really and truly investigated and those policy makers would have been called to account. But, the Secretary of State told a Senate panel "What difference does it make? Those are not the words of a patriot. What was going on, when and why were all facts that needed to see the light of day. A patriot would have said "I am the Secretary of State, it was my responsibility to safeguard our diplomats over seas. Obviously I failed in that task." But no, The Honorable Secretary obfuscated her responsibility and as a consequence, failed as a leader and a patriot.
You see, anyone can say they are a patriot, it's your actions which define you. So, the next time someone tells you they are a patriot and they want to say the "Pledge of allegiance" in the schools, tell them to teach the pledge to their children if they like. But, the pledge alone won't make them a patriot. I'm sure all the senior members of the current administration know the pledge. Well, they know the words, the real meaning may escape them.
The conservative crazies in the congress want to put prayer back in schools. I don't understand. Prayer to whom? I have friends of all faiths. Many of them pray differently than I. I understand the desire to pray in school, I used to do it all the time. Just before a test, I would lower my head, close my eyes and say what became know as the "Alan Shepard's prayer": "Please God, Don't let me screw up." Simple and effective. But, I didn't need a court to say I had permission to pray. I just did it, quietly, without fanfare, without recognition or the expectation of reward. That is what a patriot does.
When the rebels threw the tea into Boston harbor in 1773, they did not have the permission of the King. It was an act of defiance. To England, it was an act of revolution. To us, it was Patriotic. But, it was action. You read about it in the history books as an active protest. It is not in the history books as an idea that a bunch of fellas talked about around a table in a tavern. They let their actions speak for them.
Women would not have the vote in this country if it are not for the patriotic women who marched and protested for years to get what was theirs and should have been codified in our Constitution in the beginning. It wasn't. The women went and got it. Not by sitting around and talking but by action.
A few years ago, one of our local libraries was going to be quietly closed by the city council. You know, a little back door, midnight politics. A good friend o mine heard about it. She raised such a stink in public, on Election day that the next day the paper ran a story that the library was not going to be closed. The city manager had no idea how in the world that "rumor" got started. Patriotism in action.
Your patriotic action can be great or small. Size is not important. In a week, we celebrate Veteran's Day. This is a day to remember all who served. Show your pride. Show your patriotism. Shake the hand of a Veteran and thank him or her for their service.
For those patriots among us, you have my permission (as if you need it) to say:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
And to the Republic of which it stands.
One Nation.
Under God.
Indivisible.
With Liberty and Justice for all.
As Always...
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