Whatever happened to the United States?

It seems in recent years our countrymen have been inclined to call our great country something other than what it is, or at least used to be. The United States of America is the name of our country. Our country is a collection of states inside the American continent. America is a nice short name but is not accurate.

There is nothing wrong with calling ourselves America. We are Americans after all. We live in the American Continent. However, so do Canadians, Mexicans, Argentinians, and Cubans for that matter. It seems kind of presumptuous of us, or any country’s citizens to claim the entire continent.

I just remember our leaders ending speeches with “God bless these United States of America” instead of “God bless America” Perhaps it’s my memory. Didn’t John Wayne in a soliloquy at the end some WWII epic declare the promise of the United States of America? In modern times, we had George W. Bush close with his unmistakable Texan “God bless Amerika”. President Obama quickly closes with “God Bless America” like a linguistic fist bump to the country. Donald Trump expelled “God Bless America” like we’ve just been licked on the face by St Bernard. President Joe Biden asks for blessings for our troops. A worthy ask but somehow none of these have the weight of “God bless the United States of America.” There should be a dramatic pause before, and after, before the speaker surrenders the podium.

The United States won World War II and developed the modern world order. If we want the glory and respect of the old days, we should go back to that identifier.

Perhaps it’s subconscious. Maybe we don’t use the words United States, because we are feeling less united. Even the initials U.S., US, invites unity. We should use it more often. That is in fact the elephant in the room. We are not united any more.

It seems we are being divided more and more every year. Black v. white, gay v. straight, religious v. agnostic, urban v. rural, and red v. blue are just a few of the ways we are splitting ourselves from each other. The conservative v. liberal is the most pronounced divide. This trend has been studied and talked about for years, and was born before the 60s, during the FDR era, and perhaps before that.

It almost seems like nearly half of us don’t like, or don’t trust the other half very much. We don’t think they are doing their fair share; they are trying to take the country away from us, making it harder to be who we want to be, removing our entitlement, our “God given right as Americans” is under threat.

People listen to dog whistle radio stations, watch TV infotainment and disinfotainment, where the news is presented in perspective of the audience. Facts are not facts unless my favorite talking head says so and he can twist the reality to match my/his opinion and reinforce the fear and victimhood I am entitled to. The divisions have gotten so, that people are physically moving to places where they live among like-minded people. We have “safe” states, blue and red, safe districts, urban and rural.

Franken Delano Roosevelt said many years ago, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Perhaps he is just as right now as he was in the depths of the depression, maybe more. The fear we are instilling in ourselves is more insidious. There is not one big monster or force to be afraid of, there are a thousand things, some small, some large, all of them are abstract and hard to find a definite solution. Answers are a matter of opinion, and no one can agree on what to do. And my opinion matters as much as yours even if it has been discredited years ago in a previous argument because the world is different, things are more extreme, and we are afraid. We can’t even agree on the outcome of our choices and our elections. Well… Buck-up kiddos, if we don’t get our poop in a group things are going to get much worse.

A big part of the problem is that we have divided ourselves between religious and non-religious / not Christian. Years ago, most of us were white Christians. That is not the case any longer and that is the deepest divide. While it may be advantageous for Christians to believe the United States was founded to be a Christian nation, certainly founded by people with Christian upbringing, it is not true that the founders intended the nation to be ruled by Christion theology. Simply because if you allow that, who’s version of “Christian” do you use? Whose prayers do you allow in schools? Thus, the founders made a point of allowing room for other faiths and for no faith. They understood that the United States would attract people from all over the world. It was already happening in 1776, people of Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths were arriving in this country and there needed to be and still needs to be room for them.

The constitution and rule of man-made law is to be the religion of the state. Many people believe it secondary to religion, and that’s okay. The founders just wanted a clear line between state law and religious practices enforced by choice. The difference between law and sin.

With so many important issues that our nation and our human civilization must deal with on a global scale, disease, climate, and containment of dictatorial regimes. We need to develop more unity, more togetherness, more ability to accept each other as we are, as God made us, and not as we wished people to be. In the infamous words of Ben Franklin, "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we will all hang separately" is as true now than it has ever been.

We need all the ideas available to solve some of these problems. Political discourse is a national brainstorming session. Everything should be allowed. Anyone who diminishes another citizen’s idea is truly the one who is not being patriotic.

We all know each other through family, work, church and civic organizations. We get along with people we know, even if they have a different political perspective. We must try to extend that goodwill to people we don’t know personally; try to empathize with what they think and acknowledge their fears and concerns.

Discussing politics and each other’s ideas after we know what and why they exist is necessary for a healthy republic to exist. But be open minded and express your ideas. Do not be afraid; just practice the philosophy of Teddy Roosevelt, “Your right to swing your arms begin at the end of my nose.” Let your opinion be known but don’t insult people who disagree. I have to admit this is hard to do and I fail regularly.

Let me borrow from President Obama’s farewell speech “So regardless of the station we occupy; we all have to try harder; we all have to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as we do; that they value hard work and family just like we do; that their children are just as curious and hopeful and worthy of love as our own.”

Perhaps if we were to start describing ourselves as united as in the United States of America, perhaps then we’d remember that we are part of something bigger, that we have and are building this country with all our divisions, flaws and disagreements we belong together. Maybe saying it would help bringing us together in some way.

My sincerest wish is that God, Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, the stars, or the Force bless the United States of America.