For those who disrespect our nation's symbol, who think that because we are a flawed people, that it is acceptable to behave as ignorant adults before our innocent children who watch, and wonder; a few thoughts:

More Than Stars and Stripes

We are people
Standing for freedom
And we are more than stars
Beneath a blue sky
More than flesh
Red blooded Americans
Scanning a hopeful horizon
Principled, disciplined by hard work
Tempered in fire.

We bare our stripes
Inspired by hope
Through fire and smoke
We have overcome
To see more clearly
A shining city on a hill
A white canvass
On which purity holds us bound
To higher moral ground
Than any nation ever found
On earth.

We kneel before no man
And bow before one God
Under heaven
Where all life is precious
And justice for all
Leads us from oppression's call
To serve a greater cause
Than mere mortal man can fathom
In pursuit of vain glory.

And so we remain united
One nation
Under God
Indivisible
For as long as mercy
And love
Can endure
And we are more
Than stars and stripes
To be disregarded
Like second hand garb
For we are all one people
Firm on shores of freedom.
Amen

D.A. Wittler 16'