Patriotism or Racism?

Professors say U.S. flag symbolizes racism

I haven't decided if this is illogical, or the start of a paradigm shift in our collective consciousness.

On the one hand, flags have been around for centuries.

It was a means of rallying people around a symbol. It's the reason they exist in religions, too.

Every country, every religion…heck, even family sigils have been a symbol of pride and identity.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that the American flag itself symbolizes racism.

People are racist. Not flags. It's an inanimate object for crying out loud!

On the other hand, however, I'm wondering about the future and how it is affected by our actions today.

For example: A long time ago the masses accepted that personal fate, weather, celestial phenomena, etc were affected by "the gods."

Then, something happened.

There was this unprecedented emergence of a new way of thinking.

Monotheism.

Two of the most famous figures in history to pose this new paradigm were Abraham, sometime in the 2nd millennium B.C.E. and later the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten about 700 years later.

Both were met with staunch opposition.

One eventually failed, and his country reverted to its pantheon of mysterious gods.

It serves to note that Akhenaten was married to Nefertiti, and his success was largely predicated on her strong will and support.

Anyhow, it took another 1,300 years before another man rose to prominence with a new way of thinking.

He cast aside teachings such as, "an eye for an eye," and told us to "love thy neighbor."

These were radical ideas in a violent world.

Again, met with fierce opposition.

Especially when he chastised the Jewish priests for taking money from believers, "for God," and threw a fit in the temple, destroying furniture and releasing goats/lambs/etc to be given back to the people. All which resulted in his arrest.

My point is, that every so often we are faced with a choice.

A choice to continue doing things as they have always been done, or to change.

We must weigh those decisions against our conscience and against our understanding of what is the best course of action as we hope to make the world…and leave it better than we found it.

If not for ourselves, but for our progeny.

Leading by example.

Is the age of segregated identity over?

Or will it soon come to an end?

Will the lowering of flags result to collecting them in museums while we shift our thinking?

Will we go from viewing each other as outsiders to seeing each other as brothers and sisters?

Will this be the paradigm shift that ensures our survival?

Because if we aren't fighting over borders and ideologies…and if we aren't being led like sheep into slaughter under the guise of patriotism, then we may actually stand together.

We may stand up for each other instead of against each other.

We may actually change the world.

What do you think? Are you up for it?

If so, then we may have to remove that bit of scripture that reads:

Leviticus 25:44-46 44 “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

Having said that, I leave you with an adage from Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi: "Be the change you want to see in the world."