Intelligent Patriotism

During this July 4th week, we will hear paeans of praise (richly deserved) for the selfless women and men who sacrificed on the fields of battle for our freedom. We will also encounter loud protestors angry at "King George's" policies in Iraq. We will barbeque a variety of foods and enjoy summer with family and friends. We will also observe disquieting events in North Korea and Iran. We will thank God and the Founders for our nation, even as we look for solutions to seemingly intractable problems.

The greatness of America can be found in these very divergent feelings and thoughts. It is possible to swell with pride when the Flag is raised and forcefully oppose current policies. The freedoms enshrined in our Constitution call us to intelligent patriotism. America is not about the dehumanizing ideologies of Left and Right that ravaged the 20th century. We are not about blood, race and soil. Our values and virtues are richer, more trancendent, and call forth virtue, not blind obedience, from each citizen.

The United States of America is the noblest experiment in political freedom in human history. During our two centuries of nationhood, we have offered the world an example of liberty. The first freedom - conscience and religion - is our greatest gift to humanity and to our own religious communities. All other freedoms derive from this basic one - and we are still striving to live up to the aspirations of our First Principles.

It took a Civil War to humanize millions living among us. It took a World War to let women vote. Another World War united with peaceful religious protest finally allowed millions access to our national bounty.

This gradual and painful march forward was made possible because most citizens - native born or newly received - shared similar values regardong God, family and country. But in the last 50 years this consensus (not unanimity) has eroded and been displaced by narcissism and solipcism that threatens the very freedom we enjoy.

The generation that endured the dust bowl and the sands of Iwo Jima has given way to two generations of self-absorbed and self-destructive citizens who do not understant the virtues necessary for freedom.

The way forward is not blind, visceral patriotism that ignores our faults. Neither can we redefine family, morality and society and expect to enjoy real liberty. We must find a third way - just like our Founders. They understood that liberty rested upon responsible individuals. We must reaffirm our personal responsibility for the welfare of our nation and stop blaming the very people we elect! At the same time, there are no "good old days" that we need to reify.

Let's be intelligent patriots. Let's love our flag, our land, and our fellow citizens. Let's also keep striving to live up to the ideals of our Founders and never rest until all enjoy the blessings of liberty.

Fatherhood Renewed

As we approach Father's Day, sentimental stories will abound, along with feminist and post-feminist reflections on fathering and maleness.

Current crises in education and in family stability are causing many to wonder if the androginization experiments of the last 50 years have been helpful or harmful.

"New" research is "discovering" what every rational parent has known for millennia: boys are different from girls and both lads and lasses need positive male influence for their psychological well-being.

The last half-century is not all a loss - women do have more legal and social protection, educational opportunity, and improved employment prospects is some western countries.

But there are more ominous consequences of social experimentation and secularism:

• No-fault/one party divorce and ease of remarriage and "alternate" living arrangments have brought great chaos to the psyches of our children. Men in particular have forsaken their responsibilities.
• Sexual liberation is an oxymoron. By its very nature, sexual intimacy is much more than a momentary pleasure The coasening of our sensibilities and separation of sex and family ties has produced and confused, hedonistc generation that is urged to "think for themselves" about where they fit on a spectrum of gender/identity choices.
• Even in fairly stable homes, a fair and realistic assessment of male and female expectations and roles is hard to find. Somewhere in between "burning man" machismo and "queer eyes for the straight guy" is a clear pathway of peace for men and women.

Back to Father's Day. We need to celebrate the special role of fathers, enjoying the fact that they are

• Men. Yes, males, with all the challenges and joys of that gender. There is no one stereotype, but we need to honor the fact that maleness is part of Creation, not the Fall (for all of you armchair theologians)
• Husbands. The best way to love children is to love their mother unconditionally and prove that love in sacrifical service. If the marriage is strong, children will feel secure.
• Dads. We are irreplaceable, whether we fix cars, do origami or wrestle on the family room floor.
• Humans made in God's image - fantastic and flawed, infinitely valuable and imperfect - and capable of enormous good.

Let's honor Dad this week!

Allergic to Hypocrisy

It is Spring again and now that the rain has ceased, the pollens are released and my allergies assert themselves with full force.

No, this is not a narcissistic blog about my struggle with hay fever. I want to use the metaphor of allergies to express some direct thoughts on the current stae of affairs in the the public square of the USA.

I am allergic to

• "Conservatives" who talk about reduing debt and government waste while missing the opportunities to do so.
• "Liberals" who want "justice" but have no firm princples upon which to define the word itself.
• Educational leaders who call for parental generosity (endless fund-raising), involvement and responsibility while undermining all of these with politically correct campaigns to rewrite history and redefine anthropology and morality in the name of diversity.
• Church leaders who reject the teachings of their traditions while reaping all the financial rewards of the their clergy status. A special shame on Epicopalians such as "Bishop" Spong who should start their own separate religion instead of sponging off of the leagcy of faithful, orthodox Christians.
• Global business leaders who care nothing for borders, national sovereignty or the conditions of their workers.
• Politicians who still, after 40 years of failure, do not understand that you can not maintain an indefinite welfare state and wage a serious war at the same time.
• Denominational leaders who call upon their faithful to be witnesses in the world while urging their withdrawl from public schools.
• Secular, Western elites who love to villify anything Jewish or Christian while insisting for special respect for the Islamic way of life.
• Muslim leaders who preach hatred and violence in their mosques while claiming to be for peace when they speak to the press.
• All who claim history is nothing but the stories of the victors, while they selectively use history to push ideological agendas.

Well, it is time for another pill for the sneezing. Stay tuned...I have a feeling that my next article will contain more items to awaken our allergies...

There are remedies - like facing the truth and creating sacrificial solutions.

Immigration Sanity

The challenge of illegal or "undocumented" aliens/immigrants will not go away. Global agribusiness and other service industries enjoy cheap labor and radical political forces are thrilled to watch a borderless environment emerge that will undermine the American Empire.

No one is seriously talking about the deeper issues affecting the future of our nation.

What does citizenship mean? When is a law no longer a law because no one will enforce it?

If we "normalize" the current 11-15 million undocumented workers, what systemic changes will be in place to prevent another crisis with millions more in a few years?

The cohesion of a culture - even a very diverse one - rests on shared values, vision and virtues. Our Founders knew this and generations since have been falling short and striving to achieve the equity and justice rooted in moral and spiritual values.

How do we move forward with compassion and conviction, with opportunity for all and upholding the rule of law, and with a clear pathway to citizenship?

Here are some first thoughts:

• We must distinguish three levels of participation in American socirty and the rights and responsibilities of each.
• "Guest Workers" need to be registered, seasonal and treated well; however, they are not year-round, permanent residents and must exit and re-enter in an orderly fashion.
• "Resident Alien" status can be expanded, but it must include proper documentation, taxes and learning English. Failure to participate in the larger educational and social fabric of our culture undermines the harmony-in-diversity we long to achieve.
• "Citizenship" should be an achievable aspiriation for many, provided they have learned the language, history and values associated with America.
• Employers must be accountable to register all workers and be in compliance with immigration and labor laws. All the protections for American workers must apply to guest workers and green card holders. Without this, nothing will change.
• We must be very clear that borders matter and enforcement must be consistent and fair. We do not need to establish policy based upon historical guilt for 1848!

The presence of millions who will work for substandard wages and live in poor housing may help some of the poverty across the border, but the only real winner is global capitalism. The losers are American workers and ultimately our entire culture.

There is much to be done. Blanket amnesties and huge fences are not the answer. Moral courage and a quest for cultural cohesion must win the day or the American Experiment will be another casualty of world history.

Will a "Palestinian" Statesman Stand Up for Justice?

Here we go again. Radical Muslims calling for Israel's destruction - or deportation back to Europe.

Here we go again. Well-meaning leftists (including many of Jewish lineage, if not practice) calling for "balance" and " fairness" in how we see the Middle East. Israel should remove her security fence (though bombings are way down) and give back all land that is not part of the 1949 truce lines or the 1947 partition - then maybe the Palestinians will believe them and come to the table.

Some church groups even call for divestment of investments from Israel, even though they are not sponsoring terrorism!

Here we go again. The UN sponsors a day of remeberance for Palestinian martyrs and unveils a map of Paestine without Israel!

We live in the Information-but-Ignorance Age. How quickly we forget our history! Here are some reminders:

• Jewish men and women have a claim on this Land that is older than its current Arab occupants.
• During the 19th and early 20th century Jewish settlers legally purchased land from the Ottoman-led landowners. Very few Arabs were disposessed if they were willing to partner with their new neighbors.
• In exchange for an alliance during WWI, the British promised support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, with Jew and Arab living in peaceful coexistence.
• By the 1930s, this promise proved hollow and the British stopped allowing Jews to emigrate to their Mandate in Palestine in significant numbers.
• At the height of the Holocaust in 1942-45, the nations of the world turned their backs and refuse to open their doors to desperate Jews.
• Finally, in 1947, the UN, with the approval the the USA and USSR, offers a partition of this Mandate, with a Jewish (Israel) and Arab (Trans-Jordan, now Jordan) State living side-by-side.
• By 1948, the new State of Israel is besieged by armies from all the Arab States. Cries of "Jihad!" and "Death to the Jews!" thunder throughout the"Arab Street". Israel tries to calm her Arab populace, but thousands flee, with the promises of a short exile and return to the land when the Jews have been "thrown into the sea."
• Israel achieves a truce in 1949, and defends herself in 1967 and 1973, with the final Yom Kippur War almost resulting in an Arab victory.
• By 1978, Israel and Egypt make peace - the Sinai is returned and a pathway forward for another Palestinian State is forged.
• The Oslo Accords of 1992-1993 offer an emergent Palestinian State 97% of the West Bank and the Gaza. Nobel Prizes are awarded, but Arafat's duplicity and his ultimate aim of Israel's destruction stalls any progress.

Again and again Israel has shown forebearance, relocated settlers, offered terms - and all it does is embolden the enemies committed to her destruction.

We need a new leader for the Palestinians. A leader must arise from the ashes of failure and unequivocably commit to 1) Israel's right to exist securely and is full diplomatic relations with her neighbors; and 2) an end of terrorism and a williness to partner with Israel to devolp the economies of the region.

Israel is not perfect. She can be politically paranoid and her reactions to terror overdone at times. But Israel's moral and political superiority must not be ignored - it is a model of freedom and diversity in a region bound by conformity and enslavement.

Let's take time to get the facts and pray for peace. Let's refuse to buy the drivel proferred by the Islamofascists and Holocaust deniers.

Let's choose life and support Israel - AND a new Palestine that will be her friend.