Police have the term "community policing." The essence of it is to engage with the citizens they serve. The forms of community policing include: officers walking a beat; bicycle patrols; attending community meetings; visiting local stores and knowing the shopkeepers; seeking the help of citizens in reporting crime and criminal behaviors, etc.
We collectively are slowly destroying what it means to be a community. A diverse population united in a purpose of living in a free country. I've been thinking about the Pledge of Allegiance, the words of which are recited thousands of times a day, "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
I've often thought that we should not be pledging allegiance to a piece of cloth, but to the nation it represents. In essence that is what we are doing when we recite the pledge. The words there have great meaning to me. "One Nation under God." Being a person of faith, it is a recognition of Divine power from where our leaders and the nation are given authority over us. The "One Nation" aspect is that we, who come from different parts of the globe, different religions, different races, different sexes, different political views, different perspectives on the world at large are still united as "One Nation."
"To the Republic" means that we have officials whom we have elected to represent us. It is to them who we pledge our allegiance as people in authority over we who we have charged with doing their best to promote good government and an opportunity for all. Those elected officials exercise some of that authority over us via the establishment of the military at the federal level and in state and local affairs the funding of law enforcement agencies to keep the peace and allow law abiding persons to live in peace and prosperity, and not allow those who wish to take advantage of others for their own profit or other motives to succeed.
The word "indivisible" seems to be challenged right now. The American Civil Warwas the last time these words (the war predates the Pledge of Allegiance) were physically challenged by force of arms. And, it really was not that long ago. If my great grandfathers had been here in the United States at the time of the Civil War they could have been participants in the conflict. One was in Norway, one in England, one in Canada. They came to the United States as part of later immigrations. Today the divisions among us along the lines of race, religion, political views, income are straining the seams of what it means to be "indivisible." There are those among us who are stressing our differences more than our similarities as humans first, and then citizens of a nation made up of different peoples.
These last words of the pledge seem to ring hollow for some members of our community, "With Liberty and Justice for All." Liberty to live our lives in peace. Liberty and the freedom to move about our community without being limited by the color of our skin, our music, our manner of dress, our religious views, or the languages we speak. Liberty from harassment from authorities who are different from us, while we are just living our lives peaceably. "Justice" is this last aspect. When harm or infringement of our liberties is made and those actions are unjust there is an expectation that justice will be administered equitably on everyone no matter their income or position in society.
The recent shootings by police of black men and then the presumed retaliatory killing of five police officers and the wounding of seven others as has been reported in Dallas, is straining the Pledge of Allegiance and what it means to live in the the United States. We cannot let the divisions among us separate us from who we are as a "collective people" living here in America.
I encourage each of you, myself included, to look at our circle of influence and by words and deeds to become more inclusive in our relationships and interactions with others. We cannot retreat into our silos of contentment and comfort, ignoring what is happening all around us. We each have a responsibility to act, not just now, but into the future in a deliberate manner to ensure that the Pledge of Allegiance rings true for everyone who lives under the flag and seeks the guarantees stated in the pledge.
