The patriotism of our nation's citizens will be on display tomorrow, July 4, 2020, in town squares, county parks and down country roads. We expect our fellow citizens to "wave the flag" and celebrate the ideals and principles that have made the USA the greatest nation on earth. And—our current form of patriotism expects that we celebrate these ideas without scratching too far below the surface to gage how broadly or deeply they've taken hold. Better to simply go along with the notion that our nation remains at the zenith of its power and is still the envy of the world.
But I think a greater act of patriotism, at least in our case, would be to boldly reconfirm these same principles of democracy and the Rule of Law upon which our nation was founded with a renewed activism to identify where they have yet to reach and be applied to every citizen who calls America their home.
I for one am not content to celebrate mindless nationalism. That's the modus operandi of far too many nations that have come and gone. To avoid spiritual decay our nation needs to be relentless at hammering away at every stubborn group or area of resistance that willfully impedes or resists our founding ideals and principles. In America’s case that means making sure every American citizen receives equal justice, equal freedom and equal rights.
That’s something I get excited about when I think about “America, the Beautiful.”