Proud to Be an American, Prouder as a Citizen of Another World

American flag adorn a pier on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tenn.

We’re about to celebrate another Independence Day. Yes, in England they also have a July 4^th, but from what I hear, they would remove it from the calendar if they could. To which all patriotic Americans can say, “Nah, nah, nah-nah, nah!”

Speaking of “patriotic,” nearly 70 years ago the spirit of patriotism grabbed hold of me and to date, hasn’t let go. Born on the Fourth of July, I still get chills when I see our Star Spangled Banner waving above. I delight in “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” regarding myself as one, and have yet to hear a John Philip Sousa march that I didn’t like. Someone had a good idea when they recorded Kate Smith singing, “God Bless America,” even when it’s played in its scratchy, non-digital form.

My grandparents immigrated from Hungary to the USA, passing through Ellis Island, even though I doubt they could speak a word of English (or American) upon arrival. But they settled into homes in Pennsylvania and became contributors to their communities. My grandfathers provided for their families by performing hard labor for long hours in steel mills, and became proud, naturalized Americans.

While World War II was being waged, my father bravely fought in the midst of it, collecting wounds in Europe and Northern Africa as he served as an officer in both armored and infantry divisions of the U.S. Army. Later, he gave more than a year of his life while stationed in South Korea in the aftermath of the Korean War, and wrapped up his military career commuting to New York City, where he was assigned another role. He even worked many years in the U.S. Postal Service.

In light of all the above, I admit it miffs me when disrespect is directed toward our nation, its flag, and those who served courageously so that today we’re not under Nazi, Communist, or even Muslim rule. Our beleaguered Constitution still guarantees the rights of free speech and dissent, but I sometimes wonder whether misguided protesters aren’t actually biting the hand that has fed them so extravagantly.

Certainly, bad things have been perpetrated in the name of the red, white and blue, but show me a nation where that hasn’t been the case. If there is one, maybe the dissatisfied should move there if the United States doesn’t meet their lofty standards.

Even in writing this, however, I recognize, as the old spiritual tells us, “This world ain’t my home, I’m just a-passin’ through.” Speaking of our tendencies toward sin, the apostle Peter wrote, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11). Why submit to earthbound temptations, he was saying, when heaven is our real home?

Hebrews 11:13-16, speaking of biblical predecessors whose lives were characterized by great faith, often in the face of formidable opposition, expresses the same sentiment from a slightly different angle: “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth…. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

Even in the Old Testament we find the affirmation that for every follower of Jesus Christ, our true citizenship is not in this nation, or even this planet.“For we are foreigners and sojourners in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope” (1 Chronicles 29:15).

So as I nod in assent to the words of the Lee Greenwood song, “Proud to Be an American,” I’m far prouder to know I’ve been chosen to be a child of God, a citizen of a Kingdom I’ve yet to see, but look forward to with great anticipation, by faith. As Philippians 3:20 declares, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

A Day to Celebrate – or Not?

Does our Star Spangled Banner
still represent the values for
which it once proudly waved?

Independence Day can’t get here soon enough. The United States needs a patriotic booster shot. Lee Greenwood’s ”Proud to Be an American” might be suffering from embarrassment. We need to soak up some “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” and other festive marches, and stirring fireworks shows. It’s time to get good ole American bounce back in our step.

I’ve long considered myself a patriot. I attribute that in part to having been born on July 4, while my dad was serving in the U.S. Army. Yep, I’m one of those born on the Fourth of July Yankee doodle dandies – although my degree of “dandiness” is up for debate.

To this day spotting an American flag waving in the breeze makes me smile. On football Saturdays I bleed Scarlet and Gray, but all other days I’m a red, white and blueblood. Annually on Independence Day I’ve been all-in. Flag T-shirts, patriotic concerts, pyrotechnics, the whole shebang – and boom. Not only because it’s my birthday (I won’t tell how many I’ve had), but because I’ve always felt the United States was unique, unlike any other nation in history.

But lately American pride has taken a beating. Kind of like an American flag I spotted many years ago, unfurled in the front yard of a private residence in Ohio. It was flying in shreds. “Old Glory” had known better days at that home. Being the stalwart patriot I was even then, I photographed the tattered banner and published the image in the local newspaper I was editing. The caption suggested no flag should be displayed in such condition. (The homeowner, while unnamed, still was not pleased with such attention.)

I’m thinking the image of our nation finds itself in similar tatters these days. It’s not just attitudes toward the United States around the world. It’s the values, the culture of our country – what it was, and what it’s become. I’m a traditionalist, and while I appreciate the great strides we’ve made in overcoming racism and discrimination of many kinds, we’ve forgotten the distinctions between rights and privileges, liberty and license, freedom and foolishness.

This wondrous “land of opportunity” is turning into the “land of entitlement.” The grit and determination that forged our national work ethic have taken a hit, disintegrating into belief that people “deserve” certain income regardless of respective levels of responsibility, initiative and authority. Burger flippers are demanding almost as much compensation as nurses and teachers.

Political and ideological divides besetting the U.S.A. threaten to make us more “untied” than “United.” Factions insist there’s only one way these days -- “our way.” Rather than a citizenry pulling together to secure and safeguard common ground, everyone nurses agendas, intent on foisting them on everyone else.

Historical revisionists will howl and argue to the contrary, but faith was vital to the fabric of our nation for most of its existence. Today, faith has become anathema for many people despite having benefited from principles and values championed by our Judeo-Christian heritage.

Recently I was reminded of a statement credited to historian Alexander Tyler, although others attribute it to Alexander Fraser Tytler. Who knows? But it’s worth reading nevertheless:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations, from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;

From spiritual faith to great courage;

From courage to liberty;

From liberty to abundance;

From abundance to complacency;

From complacency to apathy;

From apathy to dependence;

From dependence back into bondage."

Hopefully the United States can escape this dismal cycle. But in any event, it heartens me to know that although I swell with American pride without apology, my true citizenry lies elsewhere. The Bible offers these perspectives:

“We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope” (1 Chronicles 29:15).

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world…” (1 Peter 2:11).

The Scriptures declare all Christ followers are “aliens and strangers” in this world, eagerly awaiting the world and life to come. That, regardless of whether the U.S. of A. still deserves being called the United States, is where my hope lies.