Established in 1885 on February 22nd to venerate George Washington’s birthday, Presidents Day in 1971 was moved to the third Monday in February to accommodate three-day weekends for federal employees. It then morphed into a celebration of all presidents. Today it has morphed again into just another day when the Post Office and banks are closed.
Much else our nation used to venerate has morphed into the mundane since that day in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress formally declared our independence from England. In so doing these forefathers adopted a Declaration that laid down a principled creed to guide new nation that was to stand the test of time.
It began, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
By 1789 our founding fathers had drafted, and states ratified, an extraordinary constitution based on these principles that established a radical government “of the people” designed to forever secure those Creator-endowed rights.
In writing the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson drew heavily from John Locke’s “Second Treatise of Government” wherein the English physician turned political philosopher cited God-made natural law to assert that all men are created equal, the only legitimate governments are those that have the consent of the people, and “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”
Our founding fathers recognized the favor of Providence in the founding of our special nation. The Continental Congress put on the Great Seal of the United States that they adopted in 1782 the inscription Annuit Coeptis, meaning he (God) has favored our undertakings.
In 1789, George Washington, our first president, gave his First Inaugural Address, saying therein, “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States.”
Today, those ties, that creed, that bound us together as one nation, under God, have morphed into bones of contention and dissent.
Many reject the notion of a creator, wiping “God” and “Creator” from school textbooks, ousting religious expressions from public places, and belittling biblical concepts of morality.
Indeed, it has become politically incorrect to side with the Bible.
Hmmm.
If we the people now reject the notion of a creator, do we not also reject the notion of creator-endowed rights? What then are the underlying principles of our precious constitution?
Some say liberty, alone, is a sufficient principle. But, as Locke asserted and Alexis de Tocqueville researched, “liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.” Indeed, history shows liberty unconstrained by morality decays into indulgence and depravity.
Perhaps we have already morphed to that point with our rampant pornography, predatory abuse, sex trafficking, senseless murders, epidemic lawlessness, unbridled greed, drug culture, and so on.
Martin Luther King dreamed that one day we the people would rise up together and live out the true meaning of our national creed. To accomplish this dream, he said, “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
As belief in a creator who favors America’s undertakings dims, shadows abound, cast by the dividers, takers, abusers, and naysayers whom more and more of us tolerate and some exalt. It will take an uprising of men and women of goodwill walking in the light to morph back toward our founders vision.
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Meridian
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Bill Crawford: President's Day Becomes Mundane
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17 comments:
About 10 years too late, hoss.
It was never perfect and it ain't getting no better. There are still some who want to make the effort though, and that's worth remembering and celebrating.
Stop this and most other useless Holidays. I want my kids in school, mail in the box, get cash for beer and trash picked up.
LBJ did more to damage this nation with his form of socialism than FDR did. Look where we would be if we didn’t give handouts to those who don’t want to be a positive influence on society and let everyone survive by good old hard work. In my opinion, we need to help the orphans, widows and elderly, those who truly need medical help instead of those who get shot in the leg by an unnamed source and get driven to a hospital then get on Social Security and disability. See where I’m going with this? Have had some rather worthless presidents, especially 44, but LBJ takes the cake. Makes you wonder about his boss that was shot now doesn’t it? There are a lot of outside influences that dictate our nation. The Rothchilds, The Bilderbergs and The Members of The Bohemian Grove. No, I ain’t wearing my tin foil hat either. If you want good dialogue, there will be those that agree and disagree on this. So, let it begin.
Crawford, you are an example of mundane. What a waste of valuable space!
11:51 Your opinion of presidents often depends on your position in society when that president was in office. if you were a slave during the term of Washington you were greatly disappointed, an Indian during the reign of Jackson you were terrified, a slave during the term of Lincoln you were thankful, a rich Southern planter during the term of Lincoln you were irate, a Klansman during the term of Wilson you were elated, a millionaire during the term of Coolidge you were giddy, damn near anybody during the term of Hoover you were sick, if poor during the term of Roosevelt you were hopeful, an intellectual during the term of Trump you are embarrassed... etc. It's all about whose ox is being gored. No president makes/made everyone happy but most made/makes someone happy. The holiday is to be broad not narrow-minded. I don't expect you to agree, but there it is.
@11:51
All of those names you mentioned are for public consumption.
Trust me, you and Alex Jones have no idea who is really running things.
They are mad killers and not even a POTUS would dare stand against them.
1:57, if you consider this as "valuable space", I've got several closets, a basement and an attic full of stuff I'd like to sell you - since your concept of value is certainly much different than mine.
3:23, with that being said of your comment about the mad killers, which I firmly believe, then no one is really safe. I for one would love to know who actually pulls the strings on every government.
When history is written 45 will go down as the worst and it probably stay that way through the end of time.
Make America Great Again!
We should postpone it since we don’t have a real one right now.
45 watched SNL and had a fit this morning. After 60 Minutes tonight, I expect nothing less than a total meltdown tomorrow. If you have him on Twitter your phone might explode.
Speaking of holidays, if any of the local media or this blog site mentioned the birthday of General Robert E. Lee, I missed it. For those of you who don't know, it's been a state holiday in Mississippi for sixty years. No, you won't see that mentioned. Nor will you see this post.
I would remind everyone that once upon a time, Americans didn't work on Sundays. Stores closed.
And, work eventually became a civilized 9-5 which allowed parents to be home to raise children and tend the marital relationship and maintain the home.
But, we worshiped more than money in those days. I remember when some very rich people were socially unacceptable because of their poor character.
Workers get very little time off these days and assholes have no social punishment for bad behavior which may explain why so many commenters are so grouchy.
8:04 - It remains a fact that not everybody worships on Sunday. Businesses closing on Sundays as well as blue laws requiring grocery stores to put butcher paper over certain aisles on Sunday were both reactions to please Baptists. Guess what? Everybody ain't Baptist.
11:19 AM I'm not a Baptist and the " blue laws" in Mississippi were bizarre when I moved here and very atypical. In most other states, practicality played a role.
I'm noting that the idea of a " day of rest" and limited work week had and would still have societal value.
To obtain a day when serfs didn't have to labor 24/7 initially required the political clout of the religion. But, the results had value. You can't seem to separate the origin from the idea.
I'm suggesting that we, again, ignored long range consequences by looking only at extreme " either/ors" and judging the source rather than the idea. And, predictably, as a result, we gained a different set of problems that are arguably worse.
The result was to pressure everyone to work or else not advance in their positions and the ripple effect is destabilization of nuclear families and the near extinction of extended family relationships...especially when you add " job transfers".
We made the choice( with a bit of well financed propaganda and political clout) to let business interests drive societal values because we decided to measure everything in dollars...even wisdom and character... rather than contribution to community and society.
We no longer demand that businessmen and women be good citizens as well. They need only provide "jobs" and acquire wealth.
We are giving our children more " stuff" when what they need is more time and good role models and guidance. Then, we have the audacity to observe than they lack strength of character, emotional control, and independence. And, unless we have time for them, they won't have time for us at the end.
And, we've not taught our children than no person succeeds without the support of others along the way. No successful person has succeeded all by his or her lonesome.
Nor have we taught them that life isn't fair,and never will be, but we should still strive to be fair.
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