Conservatives refusing to celebrate America should be ashamed
On a planet filled with more than 7 billion people, less than 5 percent have the privilege of calling themselves Americans.
Yeah, that’s right. It’s a privilege.
Yet this past Independence Day, I saw something that made me hopping mad. Many of my fellow Americans refused to celebrate. Take this comment as an example:
Not celebrating today for first time in my life. Nothing to celebrate. Freedom/liberty is dead in the U.S. We are slaves to abusive socialist federal and state governments taking our incomes and giving it to others who did not earn it; high taxes, fees, fines; government spying; big corporations.
Nothing to celebrate?
Really?
We celebrate because our nation fundamentally stands for the proposition that free people should chart their own course. We might not always like the direction, but we live in one of the few places on earth where average people can change their country’s trajectory.
This attitude that we should stop celebrating America is hogwash. But America needs more than cheerleaders; she needs champions.
Where would she be if our Marines, soldiers and sailors decided that our country wasn’t worth honoring because they didn’t agree with certain aspects of public policy or a decision by the Supreme Court?
Thankfully, enough of America’s sons and daughters throughout our history believed she was worth the fight. Whether it was in the Durham boats crossing the icy Delaware, on the blood-stained beaches of Normandy or through the dark steamy jungles of Vietnam, men and women throughout our history have decided to put their nation before their immediate self-interests, and, in some cases, their entire future.
If new marriage licenses and retired flags leave you willing to abandon our nation, then I’m not sure you really understand America in the first place.
Charting our national course demands the sacrifice of our time, talents and treasure. You don’t get there by taking down your flags and refusing to celebrate on the Fourth of July.
Battles for the soul of America aren’t won or lost with guns and ammunition. We don’t respond particularly well to whining and complaining about better days gone by either.
You want a government that doesn’t tax everything that moves? Maybe regulatory environments that are remotely comprehensible? Or a spiritual revival in America?
Then fight for it. Vote for it. Let your life be the example.
To turn our society, you have to win our hearts and minds.
Don’t quit on America because of the struggles we face. Don’t fold up the stars and stripes because of lost arguments or disagreements.
We have the blessed opportunity to win over our countrymen and women. At any moment, we’re one election or Supreme Court opinion away from radical national change. What an amazing responsibility.
So bring out Old Glory and let it fly high. Shoot some fireworks if you’d like. You might be a few days late, but America’s worth the extra effort.
