“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
My youth was spent in an environment different than most, yet quite similar to others. And like every child who attended school, the pledge was a ritual recited every morning before schoolwork commenced. With my right hand over the heart, thirty-one words that never carried true meaning other than with the morning prayer, and a hopeful bounty of announcements, the school day, lesson wise, would be shorter than longer.
Yet, while I languished in classrooms, dad spent his days practicing combat, while teaching others how to kill, to preserve their lives so they could fight to preserve when called, having sworn to protect and defend. In my world, I was a dependent, living in his shadow, with no idea what was taking place or having an ability to make a difference. When I turned seventeen, I took the same basic oath dad did, only he’d gone Marines before going Air Force, while I went Navy before going civilian, and still without clue of what the whole thing meant. And if words have any meaning, that oath has far reaching, nation crushing implications if taken, then applied without knowledge of design and intent, but I’m digressing.
Anyway, these days, my wife claims I talk in roundabouts. Never direct, but directional, through a circuitous route to achieve an end, what others might call abstract. Because in history and politics, there are problems with being direct. Look at legislators. One never answers questions straightforward, but spins a direction so off topic, the reply becomes nonsensical. Although, in truth, an answer can be multi-faceted, and layered, the sum laid out in the whole of the parts put together.
Well, after even more years of life rolled by, my wife, dad, and I started getting together for Saturday evenings of wine, conversation and debate. A mostly jovial, but sometimes raucous event, until one evening when the question of citizenship brought silence. Like politics, is citizenship ambiguous, undefinable? Not one clear answer, rule, or standard. The country, a melting pot of cultures, people, and beliefs, making one size fits all impossible? The nation, a land expansive, not contiguous, making government, what should be the driver of national pride, unity and cohesiveness, the builder of commonality and single-minded purpose:
It is a known fact in human nature, that its affections are commonly weak in proportion to the distance or diffusiveness of the object. Upon the same principle that a man is more attached to his family than to his neighborhood, to his neighborhood than to the community at large, the people of each State would be apt to feel a stronger bias towards their local governments than towards the government of the Union; unless the force of that principle should be destroyed by a much better administration of the latter. (Federalist 17)
So, citizenship, a layered foundation of family, neighborhood, community, State, national? Yet, the pledge seeks allegiance to the flag – country, begging: can one solemnly promise when they have no knowledge of foundational precepts? Seriously, how does one even define citizenship when the principles set forth are absent from the current trend of government, and its desire is to unravel the woven fabric we call the flag of the United States to an undefined standard:
If mankind were to resolve to agree in no institution of government … society would soon become a general scene of anarchy, and the world a desert. … Who will undertake to unite the discordant opinions of a whole community, in the same judgment of it; and to prevail upon one conceited projector to renounce his INFALLIBLE criterion for the FALLIBLE criterion of his more CONCEITED NEIGHBOR? (Federalist 65)
But who defines perfection in one nation under God, in a pledge recited by citizens, while the very same government seeks the expulsion of God, making citizenship even more convoluted than ever: a vicious cycle. Except, there are a set of standards that exemplify the personification: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:31)
Two commandments that define citizenship, while also understanding: Every man who loves peace, every man who loves his country, every man who loves liberty, ought to have it ever before his eyes, that he may cherish in his heart a due attachment to the Union of America, and be able to set a due value on the means of preserving it (Federalist 41). And to achieve, one must understand the foundational precepts the Framer’s laid out for their posterity to follow, and improve constitutionally, thus charged to pass down to those who will follow them, generation to generation. A foundation of strength, courage, truth, justice, sacrifice, and compassion for others. What some may call altruistic, or unachievable.
In my youth, I never learned the meaning of the flag, except for one teacher throughout my school years who taught me outside of school while in school, along with his vocational class, photography. Mr. (Carl) Casteel saw something in me of value every other teacher claimed I was exempted of; anything intellectual. Along with wiring electrical circuits, how to use a camera light meter, the tricks of using a 35mm camera, how to process black/white film in his lab, and what it meant to be upstanding, and good hearted. He willingly spent his personal time outside of class instruction helping me grow. Without him and his compassion, I wouldn’t be who I am today or have learned more than I knew. Something small producing larger dividends.
Years later, my rheostat started to turn further after I married. There were twin brothers in our neighborhood we befriended. It grew to a small bunch who would visit, listen, and learn, willing to take in what we laid out. I couldn’t believe their parents trusted me. So, when my wife became pregnant, we bought our son his first Honda Z50 so I could teach the kids how to ride. Carl, having spent his time with me paid forward to reap a benefit of the seed he sowed. Although, the kids may have given us more than we gave them. When our son was born, they took him under their wings, helping him. He’s turned out okay, I guess. That was more than twenty-plus years ago.
Then one recent night, one of the kids from those years past called, and we had a great conversation. He mentioned one of the things I taught him was his handshake meant everything, and he was thankful for the time we’d given him and the things we’d done. I don’t recall ever using those exact words with him, but they are the ones I use with my son; your handshake and name are all one has. And if one doesn’t understand the meaning of both, then the cause is lost. But they were the same lessons Mr. Casteel offered me. A full circle return of citizenship, being muti-faceted mixtures of sacrifice, expecting nothing in return. The process starts in the home and grows from there, far reaching, ever changing, evolving. A love of neighbor, peace, country, liberty; an attachment to preserve through sacrifice, the Framer’s foundation. The catch: citizens require knowledge of the whole to hold together the “Union of America.” But an absence in the sum of the total can destroy the nation on false grounds if citizens are bereft of foundational truth.
There is a philosophy I follow: government was meant to be fed, not feed, whereas church was meant to feed by being fed, an intended difference. Plus, government, by choice, has become inefficient and destructive through design. So, when it feeds, those fed take on the inefficiency, or develop apathy, willing to rely on government entirely, and government, all too desirous to accept the power, the antithesis of intent. Church on the other hand, by design is meant to help, but not continually support, a hand up, not out.
So, as the years continue to pass, and citizenship delves deeper into an all for free, sacrifice no longer an axiom of national fabric, the government overtly tearing apart the flag that wove this nation together, twenty-two words that should still resonate, but no longer matter. They’ve been forgotten, passed over, not applicable to what citizens should hold dear to their heart as they pledge allegiance to the flag, once the standard bearer of country. Since they were originally spoken, sixty-plus years of evolution have passed to reverse what the Framer’s fought desperately to create. Although, there was a time when the words and flag meant national pride and valued citizenship: And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. (JFKs inaugural address 1961)
Hi Ric,
I shared with my brother. This what he replied back to me.
Wow, that is powerful and so honoring of Dad. Dad was such a special person for many and especially for us. We have been truly blessed with such wonderful Parents. Mom is equally special and such a loving and caring Mother.
Thank you for sharing.