The City of Orlando recently emailed in a July 1 “City News” newsletter, “A lot of people probably don’t want to celebrate our nation right now, and we can’t blame them. When there is so much division, hate, and unrest, why on earth would you want to have a party celebrating any of it?”
They are right when they say that there is much division, hate, and unrest, though most of it has been encouraged, blown up, and exaggerated by the mainstream media. We certainly don’t want to celebrate that. But that is not what we were celebrating on our country’s July 4th birthday. Everyone had the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the good that is America, how far we’ve come, and where we hope and honestly believe we are going.
Unfortunately, the enemy has robbed us. They have robbed us of our statues and monuments, our history, our children, prayer in our schools, pride in the American stars and stripes and our national anthem; they are steadily robbing us of the right to freedom of speech and assembly to petition for a redress of grievances, and they are working desperately to rob us of something else: our identity and the name “American.”
Slowly, insidiously, they have stolen from our hearts something called pride in being an American. The saddest part of this narrative, however, is that we have let them do it. We didn’t stand up. But it isn’t too late.
America, after all, is more than just a name; it’s an identity. That identity is defined by the people who call themselves Americans. We are America. So are the enemy, if we choose to allow them to define us.
Orlando received some backlash to their comments and printed an anemic apology. Florida state Representative and Democrat Anna Eskamani tweeted, “Y’all do not need to apologize--your first email captured the tone of how many Americans (and Orlandoans) are feeling right now. It’s ok not to be ok.”
I would beg to differ on her definition of “Americans.” An American, historically and according to libraries-worth of precedence, is usually a Christian, intelligent, honest, morally upright, and generous. But the people who say that we are so bad define Americans as racist, stupid, degraded, and greedy. Again, we are who we define ourselves to be by our actions.
It is time we quit letting the enemy name us. “American” still defines the good, “Traitor” still defines the bad. There is no need for these names to change definition. But it is up to the real Americans to stand up for their identity and refuse to allow it to be stolen like a driver’s license.
If the enemy can teach us through this repetition of lies to believe that America really is evil, then we will become evil. It is as simple as that. But in doing so, I submit we will cease to be Americans. Those who refuse to stand for the flag are denying their country, and by their actions, their citizenship.
We must be the America with which we want to identify. But to accomplish this, there are two things we must do.
First, we must quit being proud of yesterday’s America. Our country is far from dead, and there is much strength and patriotism today that will lead us forward tomorrow. We need to look forward, instead of relying on the impetus of yesterday’s victories. We need to find people, actions and places in the America of today in which we take pride.
Second, we must be the American hero we hope to find. Each of us wants a patriot to lead the way, but when there isn’t one to be found in our neighborhood, each of us must be the American we want to admire. We must be the America we love, or lose our right to the title. After all, America is really made up of you and I.
“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” --Proverbs 22:1
These principles, expounded in the Constitution, are being stripped from the American people. Convention of States is fighting to preserve the individual rights and state sovereignty our Founders envisioned.
More information on COS, including how you can join this grassroots cause, can be found here.
