[Responsibility2nd]

I can see where the author’s coming from. But he’s too extreme.

I proudly say the pledge, or sing along with the National Anthem, or salute the flag, or fill up with patriotism from a historical and traditional viewpoint.

Am I proud of my Country today? Would I even recommend my kids join the military?

These are questions that even the most conservative patriots must answer.

[marron]

We all have allegiances to “men” and human relationships of various kinds.

The key is to keep your priorities straight. God is first. All else follows on that. Keep God first and the rest will find their proper order. Any conflict between your first allegiance to God and any of your other human attachments, and you already know what to do and where to stand.

For most of us, allegiance to the “flag” was allegiance to the founding principles. Because America without the founding principles and without God at the head, is not the America we swore allegiance to.

[BenLurkin]

When reciting the pledge I simply amend it "..and to the Republic for which it stood..."

[Sherman Logan]

So ingrained and unquestioned is this position that I have even heard of a minister who said he must allow his wife to be raped within his own house by federal agents, if they were to so intrude upon his home.

If a minister did indeed say this, he drastically misunderstands both Scripture and the law.

If federal officials do such a thing, they are no longer functioning as such, because their office prohibits them from doing such things. Therefore they have morally and legally reduced themselves from the status of law enforcement officials to criminals and should be treated as such.

The practical results of using force in self-defense against federal or other LEOs is, unfortunately, a whole other issue. You are very unlikely to come out of it alive and free, regardless of what they did to deserve it.

But defending my wife and children is one of those hills I will cheerfully die on.