| Letters
to the editor from this week's Chronicle
Redneck Review! No. 270 - 6/28/2020 Time for a change! Too much Corona! Too much concern about the future of our country? Who will control the presidency and our government after November? How will our economy eventually respond to the massive dose of money stimulus given by a paternal government? Yes, now is a good time to look to the past and count our blessings for being plopped down by our Creator God and caring parents in our good old U.S.A., Idaho, and our current town! In appreciation of these things and the Independence Day celebration coming up this week, we submit an article written by S. L. Love years ago: "Can We Wave the Flag Too Much?" "Is it possible to wave the flag too much? Provided of course, that you wave it with integrity? Is it possible to study Lincoln or Shakespeare too much? Is it possible to read the Bible too much? * The great, the good, the true, are inexhaustible for inspiration, example and strength. I believe that we are not waving our flag enough, not nearly enough.* It seems to me that we are developing a tendency to be timid or even apologetic about waving the stars and stripes. Walk up and down the streets on July 4th and count the flags. It is our nation's birthday, a sacred day in world history, the most important day of America. Why isn't the flag flying on every rooftop and from every home and building? This complacent attitude is strong evidence of cancerous patriotic decay. The flag is a symbol of national unity. It is the spirit of our undying devotion to our country. It stands for the best that is in us... for loyalty, character, and faith in democracy. * Isn't our flag a synonym of the United States of America? Does it not represent man's greatest, noblest, most sublime dream? Is it not the zenith of achievement, the goal to which generations have aspired? "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is time for us...for the mad, rushing 20th century American... to stop for a moment and think. Let us arrest our near reverential admiration of material success and return to spiritual and ethical values. Let us imbue and rekindle in ourselves and our children the so-called old fashioned way of patriotism, a burning devotion to the principles and ideals upon which our country was founded.* Should not every home own and proudly display the colors on holidays and other occasions? Isn't the flag Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Nathan Hale, Gettysburg and Valley Forge, Paul Revere... and other great men and women who have given us our heritage? When you look at the flag can't you see the Alamo, Corregidor, Pearl Harbor, the Monitor, the Merrimac, Wake Island, and Korea? Lest we forget, isn't the flag Flanders Field, Bataan, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Babe Ruth and Davy Crockett? The great events of our past and present are wrapped up in our flag.* It is a symbol of this blessed nation, a giant in industry, education and commerce. Millions of fertile square miles, wheatlands, coal mines, steel plants. Our great republic, the chosen infant destined to be man's last and remaining hope for suffering humanity, a shining beacon of light, noble and glorious, the haven for the oppressed and persecuted and truly God's gift to mankind.* That is what the flag means to me. Can we wave it too much? I don't think so." (Response of DeLove in 1956 to a listener who wrote as follows: "Your programs are wonderful --- especially the no commercials --- but you are waving the flag too much!") As we pause for a moment or two to celebrate our own appreciation for this country we live in, let us look past this 4th of July, and ask ourselves if our generation has lived up to the sacrifices and contributions our forefathers have handed down to us. Will we be leaving to our children and grandchildren the quality life and nation we were given by our parents and grandparents? Is there anything a single individual can do to help nudge our country in the right direction over the next months and years? Am I personally a drain on our government, at the local, state or national level? Can I be counted on to join the ranks of those whose lives and actions are a big positive for all around us, or do I find myself falling in with the group that tears us down? Do I pray for our country and its leaders to the Lord who told us; "Ask and you shall receive...."? (And from this aging Red Neck, "God bless all of you, and protect you in the days to come!") Jake Wren |
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