Here’s a video that gives a pretty good idea of how America is currently viewed in much of the world. It may have an unfamiliar flavor to an American audience, but it’s worth watching the whole song. The imagery is striking. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnlMnf7t4t4[/youtube] (Thanks to JR) Don’t miss an American video response.
We are wall-eyed, our vision mis-aligned. We construct walls and eye them, while simultaneously looking away. My eyes hurt just thinking about it. We’ve lost our depth perception. It’s a pathetic, futile thing (and a profound forgetting of history) to engage in wall building. But it’s something to do, and there are hatreds to be stoked, fears to be placated, monies to be gathered. Shakespeare used the term “wall-eyed” to express reproach, metaphorically extending the literal misalignment of the eye’s…
That’s how I like to see it – religion flanked on either side by freedom and liberty. Liberty of religious belief and expression, freedom of religion from government intervention and freedom of government from religious intervention. Freedom of thought, freedom of mind, freedom of belief. When I was a kid, it was very common for us to say, “It’s a free country. You can’t tell me what to do.” We used it in a wide range of situations, some of…
Compassion. Peace. Love. Liberty. Freedom.
In the words of an English teacher at Wellesley College… O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! Oh beautiful, for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine ‘Til all success be nobleness And…
In the previous post, I made mention of the language of the sacred. If the government decrees that the flag is sacred, does that violate the separation of church and state? As may be, it’s actually going to come to a vote in the Senate. We may only be able to sit and watch our government amend the First Amendment to restrict political freedom of expression. So this seems to be the overall plan – get as much power away…