Yesterday was the Fourth of July, a traditional American holiday which includes grilling, fireworks, patriotic music, all in celebration of the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence on July Fourth. (Never mind that most of the signatures came in the middle of August. That’s not even important when there are brats and steaks on the grill.)
Sadly, in looking through the blogs and the tabloids, the focus is not on the celebration of the Revolution, nor is the focus on horrific fireworks accidents (which are horrific, but also kind of funny, depending on the ridiculous scenario that is being presented). Instead, the same old arguments that showed up during the election are returning: Obama’s Presidency is illegal and unconstitutional. He was never born in the US, he’s a Muslim, he has a fake birth certificate, and so on.
It’s frustrating to me that in a time when we are supposed to be united as Americans, we are still so bitterly divided amongst ourselves. Abraham Lincoln, paraphrasing a passage from the Gospel of Matthew, said, “A house divided amongst itself cannot stand,” and honestly, I feel we’re on shaky foundation.
There is too much division amongst ourselves, it seems. And it goes well beyond the political world. Fans of different teams are often cutthroat in their hatred of one another, with the most vivid example I’ve seen of this being from a Vikings-Packers NFL game at the Metrodome, when the cops were called after a Vikings fan kicked a Packers fan down a flight of stairs.
Then there is the world of literature, where it seems like fans of Twilight are up against the entire world. Even author Stephen King has joined the fight, saying that Stephanie Meyer “can’t write worth a darn,” which has prompted many Twi-hards to state that Stephanie Meyer is obviously a better writer, because none of Stephen King’s books have ever been made into movies (if you don’t count The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, Carrie, Christine, Cujo, Stand By Me, The Mist, The Shining, Children of the Corn, and a couple of others).
It’s frustrating. My bleeding-heart liberalism tells me that we should all just get along, and that there should be no violence or strife left in the world. And yet, despite all of the advances in the world of equality, there is still blatant racism, there is still blatant bigotry, and there is still hatred of all sorts coming from all sides.
In a time of celebration, we should all remember back to a younger America, one that had to pick itself up by its bootstraps, and fight for their right to be equals amongst themselves. We cannot sit back and just watch everything we’ve worked so hard to accomplish be tossed aside because of some little difference like religion, skin color, lifestyle, favorite brand of beer, or different colored eyes. We must unite like we did in 1776, fighting for equality in the world, and showing everyone that we have something meaningful to offer.
We are the United States of America. We are One Nation, Indivisible. Or have we forgotten the Pledge already?
Just Makes Sense 