I am not sure when I first learned the pledge of allegiance
to our American flag. I did not attend
kindergarten, though most of my friends did.
So, I guess I learned it in first grade at Robert E. Lee
elementary. With a portrait of the Civil
War general peering over my shoulder, I faced the flag and tried my best, pledging to one nation
“invisible.” That made sense. The nation seemed pretty “invisible” to me at
the time. Later, I learned the word was “indivisible” and had deep meaning
related to my school’s namesake.
I think I got the last words of the pledge right from the
start: “with liberty and justice for all.”
In my childhood world, It sounded a lot like what I read in the Superman
comics: “Truth, justice and the American
way.” (DC Comics changed the motto a few
years ago to “truth, justice and a better tomorrow.”)
By design, I suppose, our pledge is short and simple. It is
that last phrase that has given us trouble.
“Liberty and justice for all.” We
haven’t always lived up to it. In fact, from the very beginning, as a nation,
we have fallen short. Just ask the
Native Americans whose treaties were repeatedly broken and, after roaming the
hills, plains and mountains of this continent for thousands of years, found
themselves herded onto reservations.
Or ask the African Americans, whose ancestors were captured,
shipped to our shores on slave ships and for two centuries were property,
bought and sold for profit. It has taken
us a century and a half following the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th
amendment to achieve significant advances in civil rights. Still, every time
we remove our caps, cover our heart and repeat the pledge, those words both
inspire and haunt us, “liberty and justice for all.”
I guess this is why I am disturbed that our government is
suddenly backtracking on efforts to include people who are not like us. I am disturbed that our government mistakenly
scooped up Kilmar Abrego Garcia who is married to a U.S. citizen, father of a 5
year old, living here under the protection of our law and shipped him off with
gang members to El Salvador. I am even more disturbed that after a federal
judge ordered his return, our government says they can’t or won’t do anything
to right the wrong he and his family have suffered. Even though our nation is
paying El Salvador $6 million to incarcerate these men, they say it is out of
our hands. The Justice Department attorney who admitted the government’s error
has been placed on leave by the Administration.
Who are we becoming?
What are we becoming?
The Bible has a lot to say about accepting others and treating
them with respect. “There is no longer Jew
nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female for
you are all one in Christ Jesus,” (Galatians 3:28). Jesus always practiced inclusion of the poor,
the downtrodden, the racially rejected, the moral outcast. This was largely
what got Him into trouble. He condemned
arrogance, greed and injustice of every kind.
Maybe “liberty and justice for all,” is best summarized in
the golden rule that He gave us, another “pledge” we learned as children: “Do
unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12).
