When I was a little boy in grade three, a new kid moved in who was being raised as a Jehovah's Witness. Nobody had any idea what that religion was about, all we knew was that he was "allowed" to not say the pledge. We all liked him, and he took zero teasing about it... it was just the way it was, but I always questioned why exactly his religion made him not say the Pledge.
I consider myself a patriot, and thus, I believe that our freedoms are not bestowed upon us by a government comprised of men ruling over other men, but that our rights are ordained by God, Himself. As patriotic as I may consider myself, part of me has always taken reservation regarding taking an oath of allegiance to the Flag and the Republic of a government of men. I guess a similar thing is my trepidation regarding Freemasonry and oaths involved in becoming a Free and Accepted Mason.
Your comments help me understand one way to look at it.
Thanks!
I appreciate your kind response. Oddly enough, one of my good friends is in Baltimore, MD this week, and he took time out of his schedule to visit Fort McHenry on the anniversary of the writing of “The Star Spangled Banner.” He sent me a video of school children raising a reproduction of the flag Francis Scott Key saw from the river when he penned our national anthem. It is extremely moving and I wish that more schools would help build patriotic citizens as they did when we were children.
I remember learning all of the songs from the anthem to God Bless American, My Country ‘tis of Thee, etc. Heck, in third grade (1976), I played Patrick Henry and gave his famous “give me liberty or give me death” speech. You just don’t see that nowadays, and we are a lesser country for it.
I agree with your points on natural (God-given) law.
If you’re interested in a book that really points out the changes over the years and their significance, may I suggest “The 5,000 Year Leap”. It really has shown me where we started and what we have, to our detriment, become as a nation.
God bless!