Don't take Veterans Day for granted

Monday is Veterans Day, but activities to honor the military services of thousands and thousands of men and women who have served our country actually kickoff at 1 p.m. today (Thursday) with a Veterans Day Celebration at the Century Community Center. Events will continue through Nov. 16 when the Flomaton Lions Club hosts a 5K run/walk.

Banks will be closed in honor of the federal holiday Monday along with other businesses. For some it will cap off a long holiday weekend that involves everything from watching football to cooking out with friends and family.

But like a lot of holidays, many people don't stop to think what Veterans Day is all about.

Originally called Armistice Day the holiday was created to mark the end of World War I which formally ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Much like Memorial Day when we pay tribute to the many Americans who died serving our country, many people take these holidays for granted.

We take it for granted that we can read a newspaper or watch TV; we take it for granted we can spend such holidays just relaxing and doing nothing; we take it for granted that we can simply go to the grocery store and buy food.

We live in a free society that allows us to do all those things for one reason – the many men and women who fought and are still fighting to preserve those freedoms.

All you have to do is look around the world to understand the great freedoms we enjoy in this country. They don't have those freedoms in places like Iraq and Iran.

Granted I do get a little bit tired of people, especially those people who don't vote, who constantly criticize our government, but I'm glad I live in a country where we have the right to express our views without the threat of being executed on the spot.

It especially makes me cringe when I see people being disrespectful to the flag, whether that be by burning it or kneeling in protest of it. But I'd rather live in a country where I can burn the flag and kneel in protest than live in a country where you would get shot or beheaded for such actions.

Freedom is not easy. The U.S. Constitution gives us all certain rights, including the right to bear arms.

I've heard people say we need a constitutional amendment to make it a crime to burn the American flag. Be careful of what you wish for because it may just come true.

Sometimes we need to fight for the freedoms of all to protect the freedoms we hold dear to our heart. If we ban burning the flag in protest, what will be ban next? If we ban assault-style semi-automatic rifles, will we then start banning shotguns and hunting rifles?

I hear this issue come up from time to time about prayer being banned in schools but no court in the land has ever banned prayer in school. What the courts have said is that the government, which means government employees, and which includes teachers, can't lead students in prayer.

I've touched on this before and you need to be careful pushing for teachers and others to use taxpayer funded resources to promote a religion. When I hear about prayer being banned in schools, it mostly centers around Christian prayer.

Those who advocate such in our schools would be the first to demand a ban on prayer in school if someone got on the intercom and said the only way to Heaven is to take out a gun and kill people.

We have things like freedom of religion, freedom of the press and the freedom to protest against our government because of the many veterans who have fought and died to protect those freedoms.

Veterans Day is one holiday we need to celebrate every day because without Veterans Day we wouldn't have any other holidays to celebrate.

I hope you just pause to remember why you have the freedoms you enjoy and tell a veteran thank you.

 
 
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