The Flag

The U.S. flag is a powerful symbol. Since the birth of this nation, it has represented the American ideals of freedom and justice as it says in the pledge "liberty and justice for all".

The flag has also been a source of comfort and solidarity. In the days immediately after 9/11, flying the flag was a way to so say "hey, we're all in this together". I attended a vigil on the local town common where some uplifting words were spoken and comforting songs were sung. The flag was flying. And then someone in the crowd shouted "USA!" with a vengeful tone. My heart sank. It had started. The drumbeat of war. The flag started to take on a new meaning that day. One that made me cringe.

First Afghanistan, but that was understandable. The person responsible for the 9/11 attacks was taking refuge there and our government needed to bring him and his followers to justice. As someone who has stood steadfastly against war, I didn't like it, but I understood it. So did the rest of the world.

But for the Bush administration, that wasn't enough. The drumbeat grew louder and the flag was used not as a source of comfort and brotherhood, but as a weapon. It was flown, not just with the vengeance used when chasing Bin Laden into Afghanistan, but now with unbridled aggression as our country invaded Iraq on false pretenses. Our president uttered those words "If you're not with us you're against us". Anyone who disagreed with the administration's decision to go to war - a war of his choosing, not one of necessity - on a second front was then considered "them". Not "us". Someone to be feared. Someone to be hated. The chants started - "Love it or leave it" - aimed at those of us who thought invading Iraq was wrong. It was an attempt by our government to squash dissent and they had the full collaboration of media outlets like Fox News. They attempted to paint anyone who disagreed with a brush of  "anti-American". You were unpatriotic if you didn't agree with everything the Bush administration did. For those of you who read my post on "Us and Them", this should sound somewhat familiar. These are the tactics used by tyrants to gain and maintain power. They whip the populace into a patriotic frenzy. The flag becomes a virtual pitchfork wielded by an angry, fearful mob.

Fortunately, the aggression and vengeance that the flag had come to represent for me had started to recede with Bush's departure from the White House. I did not see the flag wielded in that way quite as much.

Until recently.

Some friends and family have posted a picture on Facebook of a flag sticker on the rear window of a car that read "If this offends you, I'll help you pack.". And there it was. The theme was repeated. I have been told to leave the country and to "delete yourself" when I expressed antiwar sentiments or suggested that protest was a valid expression of freedom of speech. I was told I had that right in one sentence and in the very next sentence I was told to leave the country if I didn't like  the way things were done here. And I'm seeing more and more of it. the drumbeat is growing louder once again.

Well, you know what? It's not the flag itself that offends me. It's the toxic way in which it has been used. While we like to believe that our country is the "shining city upon the hill" and all is perfection with the promise of "liberty and justice for all", I think we need to face an uncomfortable truth if we are ever going to achieve that lofty goal.

The reality of conditions in this country has not been "liberty and justice for all". Until the Civil War ended, slavery was accepted and legal. Not much liberty and justice for those who were held as slaves. Even after slavery ended, they were considered less than a whole person and struggled until the1960's when the Civil Rights movement to gain some equality. Women and other minorities have also had to fight for their rights. Women couldn't vote in all regions of the country until the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920. Even today, groups of people - homosexual couples who want the same legal benefits applied to their relationships that heterosexuals have, Muslims who want to build a house of worship in New York City - are struggling to find equality. We are getting closer but our country is still not quite living up to that ideal of "liberty and justice for all".

So I see the flag, not so much as a symbol of freedom, but a symbol of hope. Hope that one day that pledge we were taught to recite when we were kids will be true. That we really will have liberty and justice for all and not just for some.

So, no, the flag itself does not offend me. But when the flag is used as a symbol of exclusion as it was in that sticker I saw posted on Facebook - when it's used in a way that is toxic to the very freedom that it is supposed to represent - yeah, I take offense at that.