A strange holiday for those of us who are uncomfortable expressing patriotism in its standard militaristic mode, and for those of us people of faith who insist that our allegiance to God and to country are two different things and that our allegiance to God comes first. But I've learned to like the holiday and to spend part of it thinking about the many parts of American identity and culture for which I'm indeed grateful, about the responsibilities of privilege, about the importance of the loyal opposition.
David Gushee has some good, measured thoughts about July 4 celebrations and church+state.
Jeff Pasley has some July 4 toasts from the early days of the republic, when political statements were not always coded as anti-patriotic. My favorite: "The Congress: May that representative body be purged of aristocrats."
And Meghan has a recipe for charcoal-grilled pizza, which Nadia and I are going to start working on as soon as I hit "post."
The prison writings of Alexei Navalny
19 hours ago
Pondering America and Independence Day, Derek Webb’s “A King and a Kingdom” came to mind.
ReplyDeletemy first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it's to a king & a kingdom
http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/derek_webb_lyrics_7250/mockingbird_lyrics_24575/a_king_and_a_kingdom_lyrics_269877.html
Duane