Flag Day on June 14th is a celebration of the Stars and Stripes, the enduring symbol of a nation founded on the idea that people from different backgrounds, beliefs, and circumstances can come together as one people. It is also an opportunity to reflect on whether we are still living up to that promise.The traditional American motto, E Pluribus Unum — “Out of many, one” — captures the genius of our republic. It was suggested to the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the same day as the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Francis Hopkinson, a Declaration signer from Pennsylvania, led the idea of the stars and stripes and designed the flag as a visual representation of our motto. Unfortunately, as political rhetoric becomes more divisive than ever, we are sadly moving toward “out of many, many.”
FIDELITY MONTH: WE ARE ONLY INDIVISIBLE UNDER GOD
Politicians and some in the activist class have turned our nation into a divisive soup. It’s no longer, “I disagree with you on policy,” but senseless name-calling and irrational assumptions that disagreements equal moral failure on the part of others.
It is a recipe for national and personal disaster if we keep going in that direction. Our nation should be a promise of prosperity, not having politicians telling everyone that they are either a victim or a tyrant. Or citizens yelling at each other, “You’re MAGA!” “You’re a LIBERAL!”How refreshing would it be to have someone run up and yell, “Hey! You’re an AMERICAN!” at you, instead?The good news is that even as politics and the perennially unhappy on social media try to divide us, we are still “we the people.” As such, we don’t just get the last say in our own governance, but we are the arbiters of our own behavior and interactions with others.
