Gail-Friends: Thankful Thursday

Friday, July 3, 2015

Thankful Thursday - My Flags

I'm so thankful for my country and my flag. We fly it year 'round, not just on the 4th of July. We're working to teach our grandson history and patriotism. Here he is helping put flags in the yard.

We love our patriotic flags, too, and fly them with pride. Here we fly some others that are important to us.

We fly our Southern Confederacy flags with pride, too.

My husband is a Civil War historian and speaks to groups about the role of minorities who fought in that war. Most people are surprised to learn that Jews fought alongside free blacks on the side of the Confederacy. Also, people are surprised to learn that the war was not about slavery. It was about the rights of the individual states.

Being a Jew, my husband knows about racism and discrimination. He's been called names and treated differently because of his ethnicity as well as his religion. Even though he's been through it, he does not try to restrict the right of others to express their opinions.

Please understand that my heart is broken because of the murders last month in South Carolina. But, this flag did not kill those people.

We are not racists, and we will continue to fly this flag with pride. It stands for our Southern ancestors who fought for state's rights and against the intrusion of government into their lives. Both my husband and I have relatives who served, and we honor their love of country and their efforts to maintain the rights of states.

We accept other people and their beliefs, and expect the same acceptance and respect from others. I don't like the rainbow flag that gay people fly, but I respect their right to fly it. I don't like the ISIS flag, but that, too, is allowed in our country. I'm not demanding they stop flying it.

This is AMERICA, and I'm especially thankful to live in this wonderful country. We prize our freedom. We claim to be the land of tolerance and free speech. There is grave danger, my friends, in this push to stop free speech. Be afraid. Be very afraid because our freedoms are going by the wayside in preference to an agenda that is very destructive.

We must stand up for our beliefs. Don't just sit and do nothing when you see your freedoms being destroyed. Let your voice be heard with other people, on Facebook, on blogs, to your senator, your congressman and yes, your president. I write e-mails almost weekly to let my representatives know how I feel about issues of the day.

We have a duty as citizens to take part because we have a "representative" government. My friends, our freedoms are precious. We will stand before G-d one day and answer for what we did with the wonderful gift of citizenship in this great country. It is our duty to speak up. We are to pray, yes, but we must also put feet to our prayers by taking part in this country as citizens.

I heard someone on Facebook say, "Jesus and Paul didn't try to change the government." No, they lived under Roman rule and didn't have the privilege of helping make laws for their country. Even Paul appealed to Rome when he was arrested.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and many people don't even know what it's all about. A good start is to read the Constitution. It's a real eye opener. Here's a link for reading it online:

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html

I'm thankful for the G-dly men who prayed and formed a government based on Biblical principles. I will celebrate them and the wonderful freedoms I hold dear.

What are you thankful for today?

Thankful Thursday is my day to focus on and be thankful for the beautiful things in my life.

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