Which Flag?

07-02-2023Pastor's LetterFr. John Bonavitacola

Dear Friends,

We modern civilizations have learned to recognize that we are mortal like the others. We had heard tell of whole worlds vanished, of empires foundered with all their men and all their engines, sunk to the inexplorable depths of the centuries with their gods and laws, their academies and their pure and applied sciences, their grammars, dictionaries, classics, romantics, symbolists, their critics and the critics of their critics. We knew that all the apparent earth is made of ashes, and that ashes have a meaning. We perceived, through the misty bulk of history, the phantoms of huge vessels once laden with riches and learning.

We could not count them. But these wrecks, after all, were no concern of ours. Elam, Nineveh, Babylon were vague and splendid names; the total ruin of these worlds, for us, meant as little as did their existence. But France, England, Russia, these names, too, are splendid. And now we see that the abyss of history is deep enough to bury all the world. We feel that a civilization is fragile as a life. Paul Valery, The Crisis of the Mind (1919)

As usual for national holidays, the US flags were hung along RH Johnson Blvd. That is a lot of flags! And even more time and care in hoisting them up and yet more in taking them down and folding them properly. It made me think, that whatever residents put them up, they are dedicated to the US and keeping the flag honorable.

But recently, at a Pride event held at the White House, the Pride/Trans flag hung in the center as the President was giving an address. It seemed odd to me considering that displaying the flag has its own rubrics and keeping the US flag front and center is how it is displayed when other flags are also displayed. Symbolism is important, especially for patriotic moments and I am sure the flag hangers at the White House know that better than most.

The symbolism of placing another flag at the center of a display wasn’t lost on me. Public ceremonies and monuments and flag displays are an important way we create an understanding of ourselves and our values. Is the White House saying that this flag, not the US flag, is the one you salute, the one you pledge allegiance to and the one you should be willing to fight and die for? The prominent flag in a display is a sign of the conquering power in a land. Have we been conquered by pride? Has the Stars & Stripes been supplanted by the Pride/Trans flag?

Couple that with the President’s words, in which he said, “when a person can be married in the morning and thrown out of a restaurant for being gay in the afternoon something is still very wrong in America…” (not sure that happened recently) is he saying that the US flag is a sign of a society that is backward, discriminatory towards same-sex couples and that the Pride/Trans flag represents the true and free America? Should the US flag take second position to another standard? Is the US flag no longer a sign of equality and justice for all or the struggle to achieve it? Is “old glory” just too old?

Maybe I’m making a big deal out of nothing, but in thinking of the time and effort and dedication of those who hang the flags and take them down on the Boulevard, it seems like an insult.

But, still, St. Paul reminded us, “we are citizens of heaven” and since “HIS Banner over us is Love”, we can confidently bring that love to bear on our fragile and conflicted times.

Happy Fourth of July and God Bless America.

Love,

Fr. John B.