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Patriotism
I went to Disneyworld this past January. Friends and loved ones from across my life were present at different parts of this trip. The Honey was not. He helps me grow but isn't required and doesn't attach himself to me in the growth process. In fact there are a lot of ways that he encourages me to grow independent of him. That is not the point of this post.
I wandered around and loved seeing the whole park through the eyes of R. One of my kids. I helped her see magic where she might have missed it without me. This is also not the point of this post.
The point of this post and reason Disneyworld has come up now is related to me watching the most recent Criminal Minds episode where they recited the oath of office for people working in the FBI. Possibly all branches of service... apparently it is the standard one that is used for all United States Uniformed Services:
I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.[1]
I cried. Had it been longer I would have been sobbing the same way I was at Disneyworld during the Hall of Presidents presentation. They read the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. I sobbed.
I sobbed because the foundations of our country are so rock solid. They mean so much and they have so much weight behind them. I wonder how many people who live and work here in this country have never heard those words. I wonder how many people who serve their country have no connection to the concepts they represent. I want to take the words of those documents and the words of their own oaths and ask them how they have upheld the spirit of those things.
I know everyone has their own justifications. We elect representatives because there are too many of us to have a direct democracy. Those representatives are supposed to represent us and our interests. How often does that happen? How often does a representative decide s/he knows best, better than his/her constituents? How often do we rely on them to know better than we do because it is easier.
I sobbed. I fear that we are no longer what they envisioned for us. I fear there is no way back to the strength of the people that was intended. I know that the system we use was not designed with all the population and land we currently have in mind.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,[75] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
It goes on to list the charges against their king. They are talking to their monarch and telling him that he is not doing the things that are in their best interests. They are telling their own government that it is not doing its job. How bad did it have to get for them to write this document? He prevented his colonial representatives from passing laws and doing things that were in the best interest of his people(healthcare much?). He made it difficult for his own representative legislators to come together and be heard about issues(heard about how so many states have made it much more difficult to vote since the presidential election?). He created a New Office(Homeland Security) that stripped the rights of the people and gave the military power above the civil government(torture and unauthorized wire taps?).
I begin to wonder if the didn't change the curriculum of the public schools to teach the children of these United States of America that they are powerless and nothing they do will make a difference anyway. I know I feel that way. Still, I don't care what list publishing this will get me on. I'm just sitting here knowing there is no impact I can make to encourage fellowship and ... I dunno, something other than looking out for number one all the time.
I can't be global, I don't have the energy. I can't be national, we are too different. Minds me of the city states of old. A good government could cover about that amount of space and still have enough in common with the people it is intended to govern that it didn't lose sight of what they need.
I love my country with a fire that surprises even me. I hate politics with about that same level of intensity.
I wandered around and loved seeing the whole park through the eyes of R. One of my kids. I helped her see magic where she might have missed it without me. This is also not the point of this post.
The point of this post and reason Disneyworld has come up now is related to me watching the most recent Criminal Minds episode where they recited the oath of office for people working in the FBI. Possibly all branches of service... apparently it is the standard one that is used for all United States Uniformed Services:
I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.[1]
I cried. Had it been longer I would have been sobbing the same way I was at Disneyworld during the Hall of Presidents presentation. They read the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. I sobbed.
I sobbed because the foundations of our country are so rock solid. They mean so much and they have so much weight behind them. I wonder how many people who live and work here in this country have never heard those words. I wonder how many people who serve their country have no connection to the concepts they represent. I want to take the words of those documents and the words of their own oaths and ask them how they have upheld the spirit of those things.
I know everyone has their own justifications. We elect representatives because there are too many of us to have a direct democracy. Those representatives are supposed to represent us and our interests. How often does that happen? How often does a representative decide s/he knows best, better than his/her constituents? How often do we rely on them to know better than we do because it is easier.
I sobbed. I fear that we are no longer what they envisioned for us. I fear there is no way back to the strength of the people that was intended. I know that the system we use was not designed with all the population and land we currently have in mind.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,[75] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
It goes on to list the charges against their king. They are talking to their monarch and telling him that he is not doing the things that are in their best interests. They are telling their own government that it is not doing its job. How bad did it have to get for them to write this document? He prevented his colonial representatives from passing laws and doing things that were in the best interest of his people(healthcare much?). He made it difficult for his own representative legislators to come together and be heard about issues(heard about how so many states have made it much more difficult to vote since the presidential election?). He created a New Office(Homeland Security) that stripped the rights of the people and gave the military power above the civil government(torture and unauthorized wire taps?).
I begin to wonder if the didn't change the curriculum of the public schools to teach the children of these United States of America that they are powerless and nothing they do will make a difference anyway. I know I feel that way. Still, I don't care what list publishing this will get me on. I'm just sitting here knowing there is no impact I can make to encourage fellowship and ... I dunno, something other than looking out for number one all the time.
I can't be global, I don't have the energy. I can't be national, we are too different. Minds me of the city states of old. A good government could cover about that amount of space and still have enough in common with the people it is intended to govern that it didn't lose sight of what they need.
I love my country with a fire that surprises even me. I hate politics with about that same level of intensity.