Patriotism in the Land of the Lakota Sioux

Independence Day

July 4, 2020

Live from Lynn, it’s “Godspell”.

Hello, this is Fr Paul Bresnahan, priest of the Episcopal Church.

Welcome back to “Godspell”: a time to spell it out.

Who is God, and how is God involved in our lives?

“Godspell” is a nice old English word for the Gospel or, what I call, the language of God, the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Silence

Blessed be God; The Most Holy, Undivided and Everlasting Trinity. 

And blessed be God’s Kingdom for ever and ever. Amen

Collect for Independence Day; (slightly rephrased)

Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won the hope of liberty for all, and lit the torch of freedom for all: Grant that the people of this land may have grace to maintain liberty with justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The First Reading: Deuteronomy 10:17-21

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the stranger, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; God alone you shall worship; to whom you shall hold fast, and by whose name you shall swear. God is your praise; The Holy One is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.

The Gospel: Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said; ’You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Patriotism in the Land of the Lakota Sioux

I went searching for Patriotism in the Land of the Lakota Sioux. What did I find? A campaign speech. 

Patriotism is love of country, pure and simple. And in today’s Gospel Jesus speaks of love and ups the ante; "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. 

Well, Jesus, I am not “feeling the love”. On a national holiday typically we draw closer together as one people with the music of America on the Boston Esplanade, fireworks displays at the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor or at the Great Monuments in the Nation’s Capital and all across the nation. At least for one day the words emblazoned on the Great Seal of the United States become our Credo; “E Pluribus Unum”. “From the Many One”. 

But at Mount Rushmore Friday Night, the President wanted instead to make a campaign speech. He did not try to draw us together. Rather he played to his base and ridiculed the rest of us. His words were filled with invective and vitriol for those he called the “radical left”. No, I was not feeling the love. Throughout this Presidency, I have never felt it. Not once. In the Gospel for Independence Day, Jesus calls us to Love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. 

But I’m not feeling the love; are you? For instance, history tells us that the land inclusive of Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills of South Dakota, portions of Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana were ceded to the Lakota Sioux by The Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. You know how well we keep our word. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Lakota Sioux and said that “tribal lands covered under the treaty had been taken illegally by the US government, and the tribe was owed compensation plus interest. The Lakota Sioux…refused…payment, demanding instead the return of their land.” On Friday night Native Americans were shunted aside from their own land, vilified, pilloried, and arrested to make way for The Great White Father. No arrangements were made for Lakota Sioux to be part of our National Observance at the Trump Rally. Rather they were shamefully treated. I’m not feeling the love.  

Notice the pattern; in Tulsa on the anniversary of Juneteenth and the Tulsa Race Riots there was a campaign speech, and now on our National Holiday, another campaign speech on sacred lands of the Lakota Sioux. They were driven off their land. I’m not feeling the love.

George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the thousands more like them have been taken from us far too soon at the hands of systemic Police Brutality. We speak out and exercise our right to peaceably assemble. We seek redress for our grievances. History teaches us that Reconstruction and Jim Crow have been enshrined by monuments erected to celebrate the heroes of White Supremacy. The violence continues throughout; lynchings, church bombings, race riots and more recently mass incarceration are simply undeniable historic facts. This is Racism in America. 

But now something new is happening. All across America Black and White, young and old, rich and poor and add to that in this season of Pride, our LGBTQ bothers, sisters, and siblings all rise up seeking to be “One Nation, under God, Indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All”. Every schoolchild knows what our flag stands for. 

Compare that to the vilification and the vitriol we hear from the White House on this National Holiday as he wraps himself in the flag as if it were nothing more than a piece of cloth. I’m not feeling the love are you?

Most Patriotic Americans are bright enough to recognize that we are in the midst of a Pandemic whose outbreak is gaining ground on us. We are adding upwards of 50,000 cases a day. As of this Fourth of July there are 2.8 million cases and 130,000 American souls have been taken from us. Among the victims most cruelly hit; are the elderly, those in nursing homes and veterans facilities, the poor and people of color and Native Americans. 

If I claim to love my country, I would begin with making every effort to protect our citizens from this plague. Health care professionals encourage everyone to wear masks in public, practice social distancing, and good hand hygiene. Simple stuff like that.

Obviously we need to ramp up of testing, identify, track and isolate those who have the virus in order to stop its spread. Heeding the direction of epidemiologists and public health officials is the beginning of patriotism. Incredibly the President discourages testing for fear that we will count more cases. Following in his footsteps Governors in West Virginia, Florida and Texas have dismissed health care professionals who dare to count cases! Now look at the fix we’re in. Hospitals in Houston, Miami and St. Petersburg are chock a block full. 

I am not feeling the love from the President of the United States of America who for months denied and minimized the outbreak and has now politicized basic health policy. To this day, he has yet to mandate wearing masks and practice social distancing. To him the economy, the Almighty Dollar and campaign speeches are more important than human life.

Mr President, before you question my Patriotism, consider your own. Your treatment of Native Americans, People of Color and the LGBTQ community; your refusal to protect Senior Citizens and Veterans in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities, and all those vulnerable to COVID-19 underscores questions we may have of your own Patriotism.

Do you expect me to believe you did not read the memo about Vladimir Putin’s attempt to put a bounty on our soldiers’ heads in Afghanistan? Patriotism is not about you, Mr President, it is about us all of us. And speaking of memos you also missed the one from the Bible passage for Independence Day “God…executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and…loves the stranger…You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” ~Deuteronomy 10.

I’m not feeling the love. This is not the way it should be in this country. There should be no enemies among us. To be sure we will disagree about public policy and we will do so vigorously. This is why Free Speech is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Bill of Right.

To be a Patriot requires that I love you Mr. President. I’d appreciate it if you would return the favor and not just to those who agree with you but to all your citizens. This is what it means to be a President and a Patriot. I love my country and everyone in it. Do you?

In the Name of God the Most Holy, Undivided, and Everlasting Trinity. Amen.

Prayers for the Church and the World

John, hospice

Mary from St Mark’s Church in Saint Albans, West Virginia. 

Lord’s Prayer

A Blessing

See that ye be at peace among yourselves, 

and love one another.

Follow the example of the wise and good

and God will comfort you and help you,

both in this world

and in the world which is to come.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,

wherever He may send you.

May He guide you through the wilderness,

protect you through the storm.

May He bring you home rejoicing

at the wonders He has shown you.

May He bring you home rejoicing

once again into our doors.

And may the Blessing of God the Most holy undivided and everlasting Trinity be upon you this day and always. Amen.

God  Bless us everyone!

Fr Paul