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2002-07-03 - 6:09 a.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/4th of JULY
Don't miss� my� 4th
of July web page
for some toe-tapping patriotic music
& a web-style
fireworks display!
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"Our Founders' primary genius was to rethink political
power. They transformed political authority from a governmental source to a
citizen source, in keeping with the exaltation of individual goodness so prevalent during the Age of the Enlightenment. American democracy is a transcendent notion, positing that power flows not from without but from within. It was not to be the wealth or power of one's outer
circumstances, but the spirit of intelligent goodness which resides inside us all that was entrusted with the authority to rule this nation.
This was a radical thought then and it is a radical thought now. It is radical, yet it is fragile. You can't just set yourself up as a
democracy, and that's it. A chain depends on every link. Every generation must relearn and recommit to the foundations of democracy as they are something that can never ever he taken
for granted. The strength of the democratic concept has not gone away-but neither have the forces of narrow-mindedness, dominance, and fear that would threaten its existence."
----Healing The Soul Of America, Marianne Williamson
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how
often have we uttered these - or any other set of words - without giving much
thought to what is actually being affirmed ... here's one interpretation ... what's yours?�
�
I Pledge Allegiance�
I Promise to be faithful and true (Promise my loyalty)�
to the flag�
to the emblem that stands for and represents�
of the United States�
all 50 states, each of them individual, and individually represented on the flag�
of America�
yet formed into a UNION of one Nation.�
and to the Republic�
and I also pledge my loyalty to the Government that is itself a Republic, a form of government where the PEOPLE are
sovereign�
for which it stands,�
this government also being represented by the Flag to which I promise loyalty.�
one Nation under God,�
these 50 individual states are united as a single Republic under the Divine providence of God, "our most powerful resource" (according to the words of President Eisenhower)�
Indivisible,�
and can not be separated. (This part of the original version of the pledge was written just 50 years after the beginning of the Civil War and demonstrates the unity sought in the years after that divisive period in our history)�
with Liberty�
the people of this Nation being afforded the freedom to pursue "life, liberty, and happiness",�
and Justice�
and each person entitled to be treated justly, fairly, and according to proper law and principle,�
for All.�
and these principles afforded to EVERY AMERICAN, regardless of race, religion, color, creed, or any other criteria. Just as the flag represents 50 individual states that can not be divided or separated, this Nation represents millions of people who can not be separated or divided.
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