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Thoughts on July 4

I like the Fourth of July. I like patriotic things. When I was in the gym this morning, one of theTVs was showing Independence Day. That movie where Jeff Goldblum figures out the aliens with nothing but a WiFi antenna and a serial port. It is a good, corny, kick butt monster movie with heavy pro-American patriotic themes. I like patriotic movies, I love the military and I love America.


I could sit all day long and bitch about what is wrong with our great country, but today, July 4, we need to put all that away, wave a flag, shoot off some fireworks and sing Yankee Doodle Dandy. Whatever anyone thinks of America, the idea of America, the great experiment in a republic democracy is amazing, glorious and worthy to be admired. For 241 years we have tried to let people innovate and create and dream big and the results have been huge. America figured out the light bulb, the internet, the iPhone, the telephone, supersonic travel, landing on the moon and more things than I can imagine. Give people freedom and you never know what they will do with it. That is the idea of America and that is America.

No wonder everyone from everywhere else wants to come here. There are not long lines waiting to get into North Korea, but visit any country on earth and go to the American embassy and from the earliest hours of each day a very long line forms to come here.

America was born out of religious persecution. Say what you will about religion in America, but go back to the very beginning and people came here because they wanted to worship God truly, as they saw fit. The church of England, specifically, was putting the screws on people who wanted to follow the teachings of the reformation. This meant following the Bible and worshipping Jesus Christ above all. The king of England, the head of that country's church did not like these rabble-rousers so they were allowed to go to America, that distant, desolate, unknown land, and find a new life for themselves. And the people came. They built towns but mostly they built church buildings. The church building became the central hub of activity in every town. And Christ was preached.

Today there are more churches in America than any other country. There are styles and practices that the early Pilgrims could never have imagined (and probably would consider blasphemous). No matter how much the public voice of America wants tot minimize religion, it is going strong. The idea of America is to have freedom of religion. Before freedom of speech, press and assembly, we have freedom of religion. I would say that this is the strength of America.

So Grill some meat, watch a patriotic movie, sing some patriotic songs, shoot off or watch some fireworks and enjoy the day. There is no country like America and the odds are there will never be one like it again. One of a kind, wonderful and amazing. God bless America, my home sweet home.




#Thoughts on Holidays#

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