Loving Your Country No Matter What?

There was a simple statement made on a poster that caught my attention, “Loving your country doesn’t mean agreeing with everything; it means defending it no matter what.” This was on social media and posted by Susan’s Stars, not sure if that’s an individual or a group of like-minded folks; but the statement struck me as too inclusive, maybe that’s not the correct term.

The first part of the statement didn’t bother me at all, “Loving your country doesn’t mean agreeing with everything…”  That would be true for individuals, groups or in this case, nations.  We are commanded to love as Jesus would love, regardless of agreeing with them.  However, loving the individual, group or nation doesn’t automatically include defending improper actions.

I remember an old saying often taught in church, “Hate the sin, love the sinner”; but that the line isn’t in the Bible, rather it was attributed to Mahatma Ghandi according to author and pastor Adam Hamilton.  The point of such a statement reflects the lesson we’re supposed to have learned from our Savior.  We are all sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven and therefore deserve love; but we must reject sin as actions which are at odds with eternal laws and commandments.

“If we say that we have not sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 8

I’m sure there were many in WWII Germany who loved their Fatherland and claimed to have defended atrocities committed to millions who perished in death camps, no matter what. Could those same individuals say to their Savior, “We have not sin”?  Then the truth is not in them.

Nobody can defend atrocities committed against humanity simply because they love their country, not then and not now.

A perfect example of the proper handling of this thought process happened in my presence years ago when I was a police officer.  I remember a mother handing her son over after he’d committed a terrible crime.  She still loved her son; but wasn’t going to let him get away with violating the law and hurting others.  She could not defend his actions regardless of the idea that “he was her son, and she loved him no matter what”.

May we follow the exhortation to extend love to all; but identify and renounce sinful actions apart from the individual.  We need to hold individuals, groups and yes, our nation’s leaders accountable for actions which violate eternal laws and commandments. Why else would we be blessed with the power of discernment, to recognize good from evil?

 

 

 

 

Our Thurbie Tree

This story is from many years ago and had been posted to my Stories Page; but I neglected to include a link that would make it easier to find.  I’m posting it again after reading that so many of my friends have recently had to part with a loved four-legged member of their family.

I read where Mover Mike’s dog Amber had died the other day, and he had written a poem while involved in his loss.   We had a dog named Thurbie a while back.  You may be familiar with the works of James Thurber.  He was almost blind and did his work up close, very close.  He drew a picture of a dog, well almost a dog; that was our Thurbie. 

Thurbie was mostly black, low to the ground and he might have had four legs; we were never sure about that.  Thurbie looked more like a black rug that moved around and so we just assumed that he had legs.  We had him for several years, his having shown up like most of the others, after finding the hobo’s “X” on our front door.  We never really knew how old he was, middle aged puppy or there about.   When he died, he took our hearts away with him.  Lucy took him to the vet and he never made it back home.  I went to the local garden store, it being spring, and wanted to buy a dogwood tree to plant in the yard.  I spotted what I thought was a dogwood tree and asked the nurseryman about it.

“Oh, that’s not a dogwood tree at all.   It’s actually a variation of the red bud, only with white flowers.  Some folks call it a “False Dogwood” because it looks so much like one.”

“That’s perfect then, I’m planting it to honor a false dog” how much better could it be.  So, I planted the Thurbie tree in the front yard and each year about this time it comes into bloom, beautiful white flowers that last about a week or so and then blow off to who knows where.  The tree has never flourished much, remaining kind of low to the ground, more like a bush than a tree.  I suppose it’s only right since Thurbie was kind of low to the ground too. 

That tree died and was replaced with an Oak tree that has done much better.

Moscow On The Hudson

 

It’s been a quiet kind of afternoon with Lucy away for the week.  I’d gone into town to pick up a package at the post office which made it convenient to stop in for a haircut prior to heading home.  Being alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Fortunately, we have a nice selection of movies on DVD; I know, only old people still have movies on DVD.  There’s a certain satisfaction that goes along with the tactile ability to hold a piece of plastic, a piece of plastic that contains a movie paid for with hard earned cash.  That can’t be done with ownership of digital information which gives access to that same movie, digital information stored away in a cloud rather than something that takes up a place in your bookshelf.  Where was I?

Looking for a movie that hadn’t been watched in a while, I picked Moscow On The Hudson. Robin Williams stared in this as a saxophone player from Russia.  The circus band he played for was to visit New York City while closely chaperoned by agents of the KGB to prevent individuals from defecting during their short stay.

His character showed the brutal conditions of existence in Moscow for the average person; waiting in long lines to obtain a few rolls of inferior grade toilet paper, long lines to obtain a pair of shoes, and accepting the wrong size if your particular size was no longer available.

In contrast, while shopping at Bloomingdales in New York City, items which we take for granted, these items were plentiful and like candy falling from heaven to those permitted to a thirty-minute shopping spree prior to returning to Moscow.  Sometime during that short visit Robin Williams character’s mind could no longer take being a subject of Russia, the thought of being returned broke upon him and he declared out loud his intention to defect.

Why am I writing about this movie, a movie that didn’t do all that well at the box office when it was released in 1984, a movie that many probably never heard of?  I’m not sure I can put my finger on the exact reason; but it stirred something in my spirit, a darkness of sorts that acted as a warning? 

He attended a swearing in ceremony for citizenship, accompanying a female friend and love interest.  She’d been waiting a little over a year for the opportunity, studying America’s founding documents and history while hoping to qualify for the blessing of citizenship.

Prior to their taking the oath of citizenship the judge, in all solemnity explained to them,

“Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning. Today you will become citizens of the United States of America. No longer are you an Englishman, Italian, a Pole or whatever, neither will you be a hyphenated American. From this day you are no longer a subject of a government, but an integral part of the government, a free man. May you find in this nation the fulfillment of your dreams of Peace and Security and may America in turn never find you wanting in your new proud role of citizen of the United States. Will the petitioners please rise. Now let us take the oath of allegiance.”

Maybe the open borders policy implemented by the current administration which ignores immigration law and a constitutional mandate to enforce those laws, maybe that’s part of what bothered me while watching this movie. I don’t believe individual liberty can coexist with a totalitarian one world order, the sort of imposed government some have planned to replace our constitutional republic.

Could it be the impromptu man-on-the-street type of interviews conducted on the up-and-coming generation, interviews which ask basic questions like, “How many stars are on the American Flag?  What’s the nation’s capital? What year did America declare its independence?  From what country did we declare our independence?  Questions like these for which the individuals had no clue as to a correct answer; could this be what was bothering me as the movie presented such a dark presence?

A little later in the movie, while sitting in a café there’s a minor confrontation with a fellow who’d also come from Russia. Unable to understand why this other fellow doesn’t appear to have a deep appreciation for the opportunities afforded in America, it struck something deep in his soul as he lashed out at him.

“In Moscow we fought for an inch of freedom! Here you take it and pour shit all over it.”

Doesn’t that pretty much sum up how many of us feel about the way our government has treated their constitutional responsibilities?  Maybe it includes a statement about the quality of our public schools.  Is that why I felt tears forming as the movie came and went past my consciousness. 

I don’t expect much will change even if, by some miracle, the right individuals get elected in November.  Thousands of entrenched bureaucrats, those who actually determine laws and how this nation is run, those unelected players will never give up the power they’ve been wielding.

What happened to the America written of by our founders?  Why don’t we have folks in positions of leadership who put American citizen’s best interests ahead of their own selfish interests?  I’d rather be thought of as a fool than give up on what was once written.

“…And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”