The Erosion Of Belief
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
And to the republic, for which it stands; one nation, , indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all."
How many times have I said those words? It was hard to remember them
when I pulled out that one, inappropriate phrase. Back when I was in school,
"under God" belonged between "one nation" and "indivisible."
Come to think of it, I was more of a robot when I recited those words.
I never really thought about the words themselves. That's why it was hard
to remember the words when I yanked out the phrase "under God";
it interrupted the robotic flow.
Maybe now would be a good time to actually think about what I was saying.
I've been watching clips from the new, 4 star movie, "The People vs.
Larry Flynt" and reflecting on how far we've come. Larry, it seems,
is one of society's new heroes. He protected the rights of individuals
to hold their own beliefs and to express them freely. Thank you, Larry.
Thank you.
I was especially moved by this one scene, in which Larry came to court
wearing a diaper created from the American flag. To me, that said it all.
Larry won his case. Larry was right. And to me, Larry is truly an American
hero; perhaps the greatest American hero in history.
Many would disagree with me. Many would say that Larry was laughing
at us. He was. And well he should have. He was laughing at our hypocrisy
and deservedly so. We have held the rights of the individual as so sacred
that we have undone the word "society" and created islands of
individuals. As a "society" we believe in nothing.
I am no religious zealot trying to force a particular set of beliefs
down your throat. I know the folly of that tack. I am simply a realist
looking at where we are. And where we are is (out at sea) floating our
individual islands of belief as best we can.
Some of us gather as clusters of islands, in our churches, as we attempt
to buoy each other and hang on to a certain belief system, but there is
no defining belief in our nation except that we are a nation of individuals.
Indivisible? Hardly. Easily divisible is more like it. The easiest division
is by one.
And so we float. On a sea of fear. Some of us float to "cities"
like Celebration, FL where corporate "America" has promised to
protect us. And some of us sink as we watch jobs float to other countries,
where labor is cheaper; sink, as we watch corporate "downsizing."
And some of us sink simply because we can see our hypocrisy. We stand for
nothing but ourselves. And a rock feels no pain (physician assisted suicide).
And an island never cries.
I will no longer beg you to believe in us. I will only ask you to see
and decide for yourself. Look to Larry. He will show you our hypocrisy.
He is truly a hero for our times.
Brian J. McMahon 797-5016
You don't need to use my name … go ahead, if you want to … but as an
individual I don't believe in your rules. You may think I have said too
much. I believe I have said too little. Maybe one of these days you'll
hear me and know that this is not about ego. At times, it gets downright
embarrassing.
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