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.
