The Pledge
When I was five years old, my family moved at the end of the summer, and I started Kindergarten late. By the time I arrived a few weeks after school had started, all the other kids knew the routine and structure of what was expected. I had to learn everything that everyone else was used to doing. One of the first of these new things was the very first thing on the very first day: The Pledge of Allegiance.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
I pledge… (a solemn promise)
Allegiance… (loyalty and commitment to a cause or a group)
Later that same year, I decided to be a Christian and follow an even greater cause and person, Jesus Christ. In a way that year I became a dual citizen, of the Republic of the United States and of the Kingdom of God. The two loyalties don’t tend to conflict, but that is because my country allows and defends liberty and choice, especially in regards to religious convictions. Also, because the cause of the Kingdom of God expects me to respect earthly authority.
To the flag… (a cloth symbol of a country or institution)
Of the United States of America…
So many of my compatriots get this wrong all the time. We are not “America”, that is a huge continent, or even two continents. People who live in South America, Mexico, Canada, etc. are all “Americans.” We are a country within America, the United States. “The States” might be a more acceptable shortening. U.S.A. is also good. “Murica” is not.
And to the Republic… (not a direct democracy, but a representative government)
For which it stands… (the flag is a symbol representing us, the people)
This is something we have lost in recent decades. The sense that we are a people, with a diversity of views and opinions, but with a dream of liberty and justice. People knock us because we have not achieved those ideals. However, we have made progress and will continue to do so, unless the next generations simply give up on trying to do better. It is far easier to point condemnation ate past generations for all they have failed to accomplish than work at doing better ourselves.
One nation… (a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language)
The United States is unique in the world in that we are a nation of diverse backgrounds, languages, and cultures. However, we have a shared history of the experiment of the government we have established, and are united under the idea of the “rule of law.” We don’t follow a person or an institution. There is no leader who decides what we do, we work together through representatives to establish law that everyone has to follow. No one get to be above the law.
Under God… (famously added in years after the socialist minister Francis Bellamy wrote it)
No surprise, but as a believer I do not have a problem with this. I sometimes worry that it makes people think the United States is a religious country, or even Christian. However, no country is truly Christian in the sense that I am in my dual citizenship way. Even the Vatican City is a poor representation of Christ!
That said, the value of pledging that the U.S.A. is “under God” is that it gives us a leg to stand on in claiming that we value liberty, justice, and the rule of law. We are not simply a majority rule country. We protect the outsiders, the underrepresented, and the less powerful. Even people like Richard Dawkins have acceded to the value of Christian culture over other worldviews.
Indivisible… (we fought a war over this issue. Pray we never ever have to do so again!)
With liberty and justice for all.
We are working on this and, spoiler alert, we will never be perfect. However, we make progress and can hope that we will get better over time. As long as we keep talking to each other and are willing to work at it (and not just judge without effort) we will.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
I pledge… (a solemn promise)
Allegiance… (loyalty and commitment to a cause or a group)
Later that same year, I decided to be a Christian and follow an even greater cause and person, Jesus Christ. In a way that year I became a dual citizen, of the Republic of the United States and of the Kingdom of God. The two loyalties don’t tend to conflict, but that is because my country allows and defends liberty and choice, especially in regards to religious convictions. Also, because the cause of the Kingdom of God expects me to respect earthly authority.
To the flag… (a cloth symbol of a country or institution)
Of the United States of America…
So many of my compatriots get this wrong all the time. We are not “America”, that is a huge continent, or even two continents. People who live in South America, Mexico, Canada, etc. are all “Americans.” We are a country within America, the United States. “The States” might be a more acceptable shortening. U.S.A. is also good. “Murica” is not.
And to the Republic… (not a direct democracy, but a representative government)
For which it stands… (the flag is a symbol representing us, the people)
This is something we have lost in recent decades. The sense that we are a people, with a diversity of views and opinions, but with a dream of liberty and justice. People knock us because we have not achieved those ideals. However, we have made progress and will continue to do so, unless the next generations simply give up on trying to do better. It is far easier to point condemnation ate past generations for all they have failed to accomplish than work at doing better ourselves.
One nation… (a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language)
The United States is unique in the world in that we are a nation of diverse backgrounds, languages, and cultures. However, we have a shared history of the experiment of the government we have established, and are united under the idea of the “rule of law.” We don’t follow a person or an institution. There is no leader who decides what we do, we work together through representatives to establish law that everyone has to follow. No one get to be above the law.
Under God… (famously added in years after the socialist minister Francis Bellamy wrote it)
No surprise, but as a believer I do not have a problem with this. I sometimes worry that it makes people think the United States is a religious country, or even Christian. However, no country is truly Christian in the sense that I am in my dual citizenship way. Even the Vatican City is a poor representation of Christ!
That said, the value of pledging that the U.S.A. is “under God” is that it gives us a leg to stand on in claiming that we value liberty, justice, and the rule of law. We are not simply a majority rule country. We protect the outsiders, the underrepresented, and the less powerful. Even people like Richard Dawkins have acceded to the value of Christian culture over other worldviews.
Indivisible… (we fought a war over this issue. Pray we never ever have to do so again!)
With liberty and justice for all.
We are working on this and, spoiler alert, we will never be perfect. However, we make progress and can hope that we will get better over time. As long as we keep talking to each other and are willing to work at it (and not just judge without effort) we will.
Comments
Post a Comment