The Rocket’s Red Glare

Much of what is dysfunctional in America can be witnessed front and center during our big summer holidays. The bizarre military fetish. The classic overindulgence of food and booze. The garish displays of red, white, and blue. The puzzling insistence on remembering all the wrong things about our past. We’ve got it all. Summer in America is loosely defined as the long days that exist between Memorial Day (last Monday in May) and Labor Day (first Monday in September), with Independence Day (July 4th) landing smack dab in the middle. These were all originally designed to be somber affairs, a day of remembrance for our history and the sacrifices of those who came before us. Over time, they have become simply long holiday weekends dedicated to burning dead animals on grills, drinking beer, and blowing shit up. Oh sure, you can post the obligatory patriotic meme on social media, play your cloying country ballads, and fly your little flag, but that’s about as far as most of us go. The comedian Jim Gaffigan once said, “You know I don’t normally have a burger, a brat, and a steak, but it is the Fourth of July, and I’m going to need the energy if I’m going to start blowing crap up. It’s what the founding fathers would have wanted.”I feel the same way about America as I do about Christianity. I like the ideal much more than the reality. I grew up believing that the best parts of America were worth fighting for. Liberty. Equality. Freedom. Courage. Honesty. Integrity. A classless meritocracy where everyone had a chance to succeed. A representative democracy where we were all equal under the law. I was also raised with the faith that God was kind and good…

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