With
the United States approaching another birthday, (our 248th) I got to
thinking this line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which in its current form is
only seventy years old. (More about this pledge’s history is here.)
“One
nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
The
reality is that our nation is in fact more than one nation, if you subscribe to
the notion of it being divided by many distinctive and legally sovereign states.
In
reality, plenty of our nationals don’t see God’s presence at all.
Liberty
is relative, with one percent of US citizens in prison, not all of them justly.
The liberty of the rest is curtailed in many ways, not all of them wisely.
Justice:
oh, dear. Justice, especially “for all,” is elusive. Not that other nations do
better. But justice for all on this earth has yet to manifest here or anywhere.
And
then it hit me: this pledge is less a statement of how it is. and more an
aspiration of how it should be.
Let
us wish it, and strive for it, and maybe get ever closer. I can pledge my allegiance
to this as an aspiration, without reservation.
Happy Birthday USA
