As a UNITED nation, we can not forget that we were colonized because people were seeking refuge from religious persecution. The revolution was started against a tyrannical monarchy with a Declaration of Independence. Our government was established through a Constitution with a preamble that starts with "WE THE PEOPLE IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION." We have been a DIVIDED UNION on more than one occasion through the Civil War, the Red Scare, the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights Movement (which continues today because the DREAM has not really been achieved). For the most part, we have weathered the storms of division and (in my the glass is half full rationale) have come out once again a UNITED nation of diverse people that as Lady Liberty says "With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”"
It is with that, I have to have faith that IN GOD WE TRUST, the wisdom that our founding fathers in creation of a REPRESENTATIVE government, that the system of CHECKS AND BALANCES (that we as a nation have not seen work to it's fullest capacity since the FDR administration) works, and that WE as a nation do not allow violence to weaken us. That we do not allow ourselves to forget that through a BILL OF RIGHTS, we have basic freedoms that should be respected and utilized responsibly. I have FAITH in the vision that GOD gave in our founding fathers, in those that have risen to HIS call to fight whatever form the beast takes to shake this once GREAT nation. I agree with the Jeff Daniels Newsroom monologue from 2014 (https://youtu.be/RyzDRc34l2g).
If this is the first time you are reading anything on this blog, at this point I am sure that you are questioning my credibility. How I became to want to teach history was through my parents. Both were US Air Force veterans, of which my father served during the Korean War and turned 18 in Korea. I know what it means to live outside the United States and be afraid to be an American. I lived in Iran during the 6th grade during the fall of the US backed Shah. I have connected with a number of our GWOT Veterans, families, and Gold Star families. I have listened to them, watched them, cheered them, and cried with them as they buried their own.
I have to have FAITH in GOD that HE will see our nation through this dark storm and troubled seas. That in the end, we will be UNITED UNDER ONE GOD (Yaweh or Allah-depending on your language) and the forces that divide us will see justice whether at the hands of the very system that they try to manipulate or higher yet, GOD. It is because of that faith in GOD that I can wake each day, hear of the injustices, and believe that this too shall pass. My prayer is that when this does pass, that WE can rise together as a nation that embodies what we were founded on and that the words on Lady Liberty are not just words but action. That WE embrace all that makes us the most diverse of all nations. That WE can co-exist no matter our religion, our skin color, our sexual orientation, our gender, our socio-economic status, our level of education - to be the UNITED States of America.
If this is the first time you are reading anything on this blog, at this point I am sure that you are questioning my credibility. How I became to want to teach history was through my parents. Both were US Air Force veterans, of which my father served during the Korean War and turned 18 in Korea. I know what it means to live outside the United States and be afraid to be an American. I lived in Iran during the 6th grade during the fall of the US backed Shah. I have connected with a number of our GWOT Veterans, families, and Gold Star families. I have listened to them, watched them, cheered them, and cried with them as they buried their own.
I have to have FAITH in GOD that HE will see our nation through this dark storm and troubled seas. That in the end, we will be UNITED UNDER ONE GOD (Yaweh or Allah-depending on your language) and the forces that divide us will see justice whether at the hands of the very system that they try to manipulate or higher yet, GOD. It is because of that faith in GOD that I can wake each day, hear of the injustices, and believe that this too shall pass. My prayer is that when this does pass, that WE can rise together as a nation that embodies what we were founded on and that the words on Lady Liberty are not just words but action. That WE embrace all that makes us the most diverse of all nations. That WE can co-exist no matter our religion, our skin color, our sexual orientation, our gender, our socio-economic status, our level of education - to be the UNITED States of America.
