Distorted Fireworks

The 4th of July should be a time to celebrate the independence of the United States. In the South, this means fireworks, overeating and jumping in a pool or pond. The meaning of this date should be simple but it is often lost and revised by well meaning Americans. On this day, let us reflect on the good and the bad.

The Good- America was founded for many reasons. Some of the early settlers that came here from Europe wanted a chance at a better life for themselves and their families and others came here because of religious conflicts with the Church in Europe. There was no established and or accepted one reason for the people coming here. The original settlers seem to have tried to coexist with the Native Americans and contrary to popular conservative belief, the Europeans were strangers in the land.

The Bad- America has been made out the be a noble establishment sanctioned by God without fault. We have been glamorized into a perfect foundation and it was our "christian " right to possess the land and oust the savages that were here before us. We have also rewritten history to place into fact that the founding fathers were all christian men and founded the Nation on God and the bible.

I found myself at a local church service today. It is always cause for concern for me when a patriotic holiday occurs on a Sunday. This is because of the mixing of the political and religious that has taken place over the past 20 years or so. I have in the past, observed people in the congregation, raising their hands and worshiping to the star spangled banner and I have seen veterans stand and do infomercials for the military from the pulpit. Of course, the common inference is always that God and Country and Republicanism are the same and equal thing. These days often turn into Obama or Democratic bash-a-thons and it is almost more than any normal person can stand.

The undeniable fact is that this Nation declared it's independence from Britain and it's self imposed tyrannical rule and then we imposed our own tyrannical rule and will on the Native American people. For lack of a better term, we are a bastard Nation that took a Country by force and exterminated the Native occupants almost to extinction. I know these are not words that make us want to celebrate and party but they are true nonetheless. I sat through a local pastor today that stated that this Country was founded by christian men and that the men that signed the Declaration of Independence were mostly christian and based that document on biblical and christian beliefs. My questions are many. If these founding fathers were as smart as we say that they are, then why did they not specifically state the christian beliefs in this document? If these were really Godly men, why did we not mention slavery being a bad idea? The local pastor said that the founding fathers wanted the bible to be taught in schools and that we could not find even one current congressmen that would support that notion nowadays. Not only do we have one that would support that, but we have every Republican and some conservative Democrats that would be for that. It would be a horrible idea and it would violate the very intent of the founding fathers documents. He also placed some art from the capital on a big screen above the sanctuary. The first painting was one of Pocahontas being baptized. The pastor was so proud to state that the legends of Pocahontas had left out the fact that she had become a Christian and had changed her name to Rebecca...a more Christian and less Savage name. I found that statement to be very offensive in and of itself. He went on to state that the Founding Fathers were not Deist like some would contend. He gave examples of approx. 6 of the men that signed the Declaration of Independence that were Christians. He said that he would not bore us with naming more of them for time sake. The funny thing was that 5 of the 6, were hardly known men and he used Samuel Adams as the anchor. This is coming from a pastor of a church that preaches against drinking at all and he is using Samuel Adams as his best example? I think he did not continue with more example because for every one that he gave, I could provide 2 that were not christian but were at best Deist and no, Deist is not Atheist. Deist believe in God only. They do not support or argue over his front men or prophets.

My point is, that I am getting very tired of the sentiment that we were founded as a christian Nation and that all the Founders were perfect christian people and that this Nation has been chosen by God to rule in dominion over all the earth. There is always negative comments about the current society being bad when compared to the good old days. I even heard a local speaker at a christian golf tournament say that we are an illegitimate Nation as he was referring to single parent households and Liberal ideas. As you will remember, I called us a bastard Nation earlier and we are but the bastardization started at the founding and has gotten worse because of our self righteous beliefs and our bull mentality toward anyone and anything that we don't understand or like.

On this day, let us reflect on the good and the bad but in our own way, let us better ourselves and speak out against the overreaching of these United States. Celebrate Independence and acknowledge our faults and strive to make this a better place for future generations. And the lesson that I learned today, is that the next time that there is a patriotic holiday on a Sunday, this Democrat will not be attending.