As a first-generation American, I was taught from a very young age that America is a wonderful country full of endless possibilities for anyone who works hard and has integrity.
My parents were hardworking, naturalized U.S. citizens from a country where generations of my family, as Christians, had been religious minorities.
They taught me gratitude and pride about being American. They certainly knew how much better life was in America than in Pakistan. After they came here, they never looked back.
My father was especially vocal about being “proud to be an American,” as the Lee Greenwood song says. It should come as no surprise, then, that at my dear father’s funeral in 2016, I spoke about him being a “patriot.”
Of course, the first thing I did was look up the word “patriot” in the dictionary. Merriam-Webster defines it as "A person who loves and strongly supports or fights for his or her country." The word comes from the Latin word “pater,” meaning “father,” and the Greek word “patēr,” giving us the root “pater” or “patr.” As mentioned above, he definitely loved and supported his country–and taught my sisters and me to do the same!
The years flew by, and I really gave little thought to the word, “patriot” again, until the surreal year 2020 and the messy Presidential election and drama that ensued.
Like many ardent lovers of the Constitution and of appropriate due processes, I was shocked. Furthermore, it frustrated me as a career IT auditor that America’s election processes and systems were so broken! Surely, this was not the “cleanest election cycle ever,” as some talking heads exclaimed.
With the inauguration and the various resulting news stories, I continued to be anxious and upset but did not see a way to “do” anything about it (besides irritate some around me).
Fast forward to my hearing about and joining the latest cycle of the “Biblical Citizenship in Modern America” class by Patriot Academy, featuring Rick Green and Mark Meckler. I learned so many fascinating things that I never learned in school!
Most importantly, though, I learned about the Convention of States Project. Finally, there was a solution for the millions of decent, hardworking, law-abiding Americans like me whose government had all but forgotten them. Once I heard of it, there was no question that I had to commit and volunteer! How could I not?
As Edward Abbey, the American author, wrote: “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” I am working to defend my country from its government. Are you?
