{"id":21348,"date":"2019-07-02T13:52:08","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T19:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=21348"},"modified":"2019-07-02T13:52:08","modified_gmt":"2019-07-02T19:52:08","slug":"tom-anselm-on-the-4th-of-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=21348","title":{"rendered":"Tom Anselm on The 4th of July"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Celebrate Independence<\/span><\/h2>\n

Day on July 4, But Should it<\/span><\/h2>\n

Have Been July 2 or Aug. 2?<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"Tom<\/a>
Tom Anselm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So here we go, America, time to be burning meat on the grill and on fingers with sparklers. Blowing stuff up, lighting the sky with pyrotechnics. Drinking copious amounts of beer and soft drinks and parading down Market Street and wearing the colors of this great nation\u2019s flag.<\/p>\n

As I write this, I hope we are also celebrating another trip to the 2019 Women\u2019s World Cup Final Four for the U.S. Team. And wondering, maybe, what this is all about. We do this on The Fourth of July, every year since the year 1776 to celebrate our independence from Great Britain.<\/p>\n

Now, many sources have thrown a wrench in this date as having been the actual date of this event. Many say that the actual declaration was made by Congress two days prior, July 2, and that the 4th saw the written document and approved it on the 4th with John Hancock, the only signer that day. Thus the public, not having access to Facebook and Twitter, didn\u2019t hear it read until July 8.<\/p>\n

\"signing<\/a><\/p>\n

The real signing, some say, by delegates took place almost a month later, on Aug. 2. So we could say that there was a celebration of sorts for at least a month, starting the 8th and prior to its official signing on parchment. But, this being said, except that for historical purposes, we all consider \u2018The Fourth of July\u201d as our nation\u2019s birthday. And what did this event give birth to?<\/p>\n

Looking around now, we see a country that has seen great change. Great divisions exist, politically. It is a nation that has committed great sins in its development and expansion. Stolen lands, slavery, lack of respect for life at any stage, in seeming contradiction to Jefferson\u2019s words 243 years ago espousing the \u2018Right to Life.\u2019<\/p>\n

We continue to see terrible crime in its biggest cities, racial hatreds, a huge problem of illegal immigration, rampant consumerism, hungry children, horrible drug trafficking and even more horrible human trafficking. Suicides, especially among the young, are rising. Major problems that seem to have no solutions, at least in the short term. We see our politicians acting more like little children playing \u201cgotcha back\u201d than the elected representatives of the people they took an oath to serve.<\/p>\n

As a nation, as a culture, we still have a long way to go. However, in spite of it all, this nation is the greatest democratic republic the world has ever seen. Our forefathers (and fore-mothers!) saved the free world. Twice.<\/p>\n

We are first on the scene at every major disaster with aid and support. Our way of life and standard of living have people, literally, sadly, dying to get in.. But, we can do better. Surely, our leaders can do better. In our own sphere of influence, in our own humble lives, maybe we can, also.<\/p>\n

So I will pray for these United States of America tomorrow. For forgiveness. For our leaders. For we, the people. For a future fulfillment of our vast potential. God Bless the USA! Happy Birthday, America! Long may we continue to strive to be better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We Celebrate Independence Day on July 4, But Should it Have Been July 2 or Aug. 2? So here we go, America, time to be burning meat on the grill and on fingers with sparklers. Blowing stuff up, lighting the sky with pyrotechnics. Drinking copious amounts of beer and soft drinks and parading down Market […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,13,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columnists","category-entertainment-travel","category-health-seniors","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nTom Anselm on The 4th of July - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=21348\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tom Anselm on The 4th of July - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We Celebrate Independence Day on July 4, But Should it Have Been July 2 or Aug. 2? 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