Posted by
Brenda Bee on Thursday, August 16, 2007 10:51:07 PM
Quite often I am inspired beyond a comment by other’s blogs. This post is one of those times. I visited http://bubbanear.blogspot.com/ Noteworthy better known as Bubba’s blog and the following is what I came away with.
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Patriotism is simply not part of our lives anymore. First we did away with the draft which was a huge mistake. Eight weeks of boot camp made men out of boys. It also instilled a love of and appreciation of country. The draft united the population with an identity as Americans, as veterans, as Airmen, Soldiers or Marines. And so much more that is intangible and unexplainable but talk to any veteran and he/she will tell you there is indeed "something".
After removing the requirement for national service for young people we then took the flag, the national anthem and God from our schools. What we have today is a people divided and viciously attacking each other over every little social issue that comes up. This is the result of the disconnection from the bond of being Americans.
We do as a nation look for it; we want as individuals to belong to this group called Americans who can think and feel and believe with the good of all as its unique characteristic, but it eludes us. Go back and read your history books or just talk to older Americans and you will learn that the people had this “something” during two world wars and a terrible depression. So what happened? Some would say Viet Nam happened. But People 58,000 dead is a relatively small number in our history of wars. (see: http://members.aol.com/usregistry/allwars.htm ) This was ostensibly the reason for making ours an all volunteer army and doing away with the draft. By Dear Lord was the price we have paid of disconnection from our unity as Americans worth the turmoil and strife and discord we live with daily as a nation today. Was it worth disbanding the one common denominator the men in our nation had one with the other? Was it worth discontinuing the one common song and pray our children and our citizens had in our public gatherings. I think not.
I think not because we as a people are looking to replace this connection, and looking in all the wrong places for something that had been so easily available to all with a single united service to our country, a song and a prayer. Now we turn to gangs or clubs or associations. None of which offer universal goals and beliefs thus leaving us with gangs and clubs and associations that are at odds with other gangs and clubs and associations.
And after 9/11 we had this spirit of oneness, this patriotism back for a short time. It felt so good. We were united in purpose and we looked for and found common ground in our goals to care for the wounded, the dead and dying and the grieving. We were also united in seeking out our enemies and the perpetrators of this crime against Americans. Then somehow we lost that spirit again. We backed off and went about our lives; those still involved and the survivors began in-fighting over a “fitting” memorial (which hasn’t yet been built because we haven't yet been able to regain the spirit of honoring those who died over the selfish wants of the survivors and developers and politicians.)
I wonder will we ever again be a "One nation under God"?