Does the Constitution grant us the right to desecrate the flag of the United States by publicly burning it?

Our forefathers would have dealt harshly with anyone who committed such an act—from pouring hot tar over them, and covering them with feathers—to burning their home or business, and even hanging them.

We, however, are a more merciful people. We are more open minded, and more politically correct, and our Supreme Court has interpreted our Constitution to grant people that “right,” as a matter of free speech.

The flag is a symbol of our nation, our homeland. Those who are privileged to be born here, as well as those immigrants who seek citizenship, should all recognize the fact that they take on certain responsibilities with citizenship.

One of those responsibilities is to support their flag, and the nation it symbolizes.

Of course, the United States is not “perfect.” No nation has ever been perfect—and because all people are imperfect—no nation will ever be perfect.  But as  a nation, the United States of America is far superior to any nation that preceded us, and some continue to pray and labor to improve this land. That’s why we still have the ballot box, and the electoral college (which protects minorities from being overwhelmed as they would be in a conventional, “one person, one vote” democracy).

Here’s what most people fail to understand: Our country, our “home land,” is in many ways like our homes. There are very few homes and families across America that are “perfect.” In fact, the entertainment industry goes to great lengths to legitimize and glorify the dis-functional family and the aberrant home.

The true home is more than a house. The ideal home is a place where family members should feel a sense of comfort, safety, and security that they can never experience outside its doors. Few families achieve that ideal, but it’s worth laboring toward.

And that’s the way our nation should be. Even though it is not perfect, it is still our home, the place in which we should all experience comfort, safety, and security. Or, as our founding fathers wrote, the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We are not perfect, but men and women of good will are continually working toward that goal.

Your home is akin to our nation, and your house might be said to be akin to the flag that represents our nation. If someone in your family becomes angry at another member of your family—or with some act or practice with which they disagree, whether right or wrong—they do not have the right to burn your house down.

Likewise, if one American is angry at another American, or at a group of Americans, because of what they say or do, they do not have the right to harm that person. That undercuts the other person’s rights, it undercuts the rule of law, and it undercuts our country.

Burning our flag doesn’t focus on the wrongs that might exist. Burning our flag focuses on our nation. It’s like burning the institutions of freedom, it’s like bringing down the entire nation. To put it another way, it’s like burning our own homes. It is an attack on our own country, and an insult to those who suffered and died to bring us this far.

Those who burn our flag may think they are effectively registering a complaint again some repugnant belief or practice. But what they are really doing is symbolically burning the very institution which provides them the platform on which they are privileged to stand in order to complain.

As long as our country survives as a democratic-republic, you will have the freedom to speak out, to change the course we take. But those who burn the flag are doing away with that platform. They are burning their own home land. They are assisting our enemies to destroy America itself.

We, the people have the right to gather peacefully, to demonstrate against things with which we disagree. We have the right to petition, to compete in the political arena, to alter the laws. We still have recourse to some of the media and to the courts.

We should laugh at the criticism of people in nations from which our citizens fled because of their laws, beliefs, and practices. We should not undercut our own strength. We should not welcome people here who wish to make our country become like the countries from which they fled. We must not burn our own house down.

If that is the intention of those who burn our flag, then we need to ask ourselves whether they are destroying the foundations of freedom which we hold dear.

Are they disloyal, and even treasonous? If so, have they have abrogated their rights as citizens of a free and open society? Do they have any part or place in “the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Much has been made lately of whether a person should honor the flag of the United States, and thereby honor the country.

I do not understand this. When we sing “Happy Birthday” to someone, we know that they are not perfect, but we still show our respect and good wishes without endorsing their entire lives.

America is not perfect, but it has come a long way in the last 240 years. In fact, it’s changed a great deal in the seventy-six years I have been privileged to live here.

It’s still the greatest nation in the history of the world, but clearly it is  not perfect. One of America’s greatest strengths is that we have enjoyed the freedom to argue over those imperfections. In many countries, we would be put to death for expressing such views, but not here. In fact, we fought a war of independence to secure our freedoms, and by God’s grace we won. Then we fought a Civil War to extend those freedoms to all our people.

Now, however, we appear to be losing the freedoms won at such great price, and maintained down through the years. I have become convinced that—because of the many evil things we have done, and the many awful practices that we permit and even embrace—we are in imminent danger of losing the blessings that got us this far.

But back to this issue of national loyalty. We no longer sing great patriotic songs like, “America the Beautiful. If we did—and we paid attention to the words written so long ago—we would soon discover that our forefathers had no starry-eyed illusions about America’s perfection.

The great patriotic song, “America the Beautiful,” recognized that God had blessed America. It made it clear that our nation was not yet perfect, but that we had come a long way. And it affirmed that we can only continue to approach perfection as we trust and obey God. We must hold tight to “the dream.”

Verse one of “America the Beautiful” recognizes that God has shed his grace on America, and notes that our success, our crowning achievement, will be measured by brotherly love. (We need individuals who work to heal the wounds, not reopen and infect them with the poison of suspicion and hatred!)

The second verse acknowledges that America has flaws, and asks God to give each of us self-control and help us support the rule of law so that we can work things out.

The perfection of a nation is like the perfection of an individual. It is progressive. It takes time. I know that many of us are impatient, but It is necessary that our citizens exercise patience. We must become well-educated and well-informed. Then we must make sure that only godly leaders and judges are elected or appointed so that we can ultimately be crowned with brotherhood. (Today we have many “leaders” who pit our citizens against one another in order to win votes.)

Verse three recognizes that, in this land of opportunity, many people will behave badly as they try to become wealthy. The song asks God to prosper those who behave nobly. (Politicians who get rich while in office belong in a prison house, not in The White House!)

Finally, verse four points out that we must look beyond the years, to the time when our cities are “undimmed by human tears.” We’ve come a long way since Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation. (It’s interesting to note that the man who freed the slaves, Abraham Lincoln, was a Republican. He was a far cry from most politicians of both parties today who put personal interests ahead of the country. If America is once again to be the land of opportunity, our leaders need to help our citizens learn to help themselves, and not keep them dependent on government handouts in order to get their votes!)

Yes, America is beautiful. And when we each align our values with those of the Lord, she will begin to approach perfection and brotherhood.

Here are the words to America the Beautiful, the 1904 version.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for glorious tale
Of liberating strife,
When valiantly for man’s avail
Men lavish precious life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

We should all have opinions. It’s not always wise to voice them.

30 Aug 2016

Fifty years ago, this month, I was a candidate for the New York State Senate in what was then the 98th Senatorial District—Dutchess and Ulster Counties.

It was at that time that I was made to realize that our world will never be saved by politicians, or for that matter, those in any other field of endeavor…even preachers.

One command of the Lord stands out in my mind today: “Work while it is yet day, for the night comes when no man (or woman) can work.”

I lost track of that command several times over the past 50 years, and now I am once again led to focus my experiences and understanding on this business of reaching the lost and edifying the found.

I’ve become convinced that—because each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made, and that we are amazingly unique—that our approach to achieving God’s will for our individual lives must also be unique.

That requires more “knee time” than we are generally willing to invest, and a lot of “to thine own self,” oops! “to thine own God, be true.” We each need the Lord to show us the way.

In my case, it requires that I do not compare myself with others, or even consider what the giants of the faith might have accomplished through the ages. God did not call me to be a “giant,” but a “servant,” to simply labor faithfully in my own little corner of the vineyard, and never to compare my methods or to measure my success against those of others.

In all cases, I’m to do the best I can with what I have, wherever I am, trusting the Lord to take me where I ought to go.

Right now, it’s writing these books about CC, with the prayer that somewhere down the line, they might fall into the hands of a few who will read them, and by the grace of God, find “life” in Jesus Christ.

If my readers are helped to appreciate the dangers of this present evil world, and are encouraged to prepare for these dangers, and are also made aware of their individual responsibility to touch the hearts and minds of others with the truths of God, then I can ask no more.

I think that’s all the Lord expects of me…

What about you?

If you have purchased the paperback versions of Book 1 and/or Book 2 in the series, The Chronicles of CC,” and you return them to me at your expense, I will replace them with new, revised and autographed versions at no charge to you.

Yes, you will have to pay for shipping them to me, but I will pay for the new books as well as shipping them back to you.

Please address them to me at Greenbush Press.

Frank Becker, c/o Greenbush Press, 21518 Karpathos Ln, Spring, TX 77388-3262.

Your copy of Book 1 and/or Book 2 must arrive at Greenbush Press by June 15, 2016 to qualify. Please allow at least a month to get the new  autographed books back to you. We want to wait for as many as possible to arrive so that we can handle this in one major effort. I will be out of town much of July, so please make allowances for that as well.

Again, this offer of the revised, autographed copies of “War’s Desolation” and “The Heav’n Rescued Land,” is only for those who have already purchased the original paperback copies.

(If you have anything special that you would like written with the autograph, include it on an enclosed piece of paper. Make sure your return address is included on that sheet of paper, as your outer wrapping may be damaged in transit.)

This offer is unprecedented in the publishing industry, but it’s my way to thank all of you for your wonderful support and encouragement.

Col. 2:5,

Frank Becker

Millions of people in the Houston area had plans for this week. Others would just go through the motions, their activities dictated by their commitments. Some would spend the bulk of their time in school or at work.

Not so! With an average of 7 1/2″ of rain falling over Harris Couny in one night, and prolonged thunderstorms, and even hailstorms and tornadoes striking the area—and it’s not over yet—the area is experiencing unprecedented flooding.

Many of the giant school districts in the area have been struck hard. Joy teaches in the Klein Independent School District — one of thousands of teachers employed there, and the entire system, 50,000 students, is closed for the fourth day.

More violent storms are sweeping in from the northwest this morning, and two reservoirs on the west side of Houston are at record levels, overflowing, the dams in danger of breaking.

Just the hailstorm alone caused over $1-billion in damage. The damage from flooding is widespread and unprecedented.

And now more damage and more lives are in danger.

Perhaps these “acts of God,” as the insurance companies once labeled them, will cause people to awaken spiritually. Perhaps not.

One thing is certain. Across America and around the world, countless numbers have turned away from their Christian beliefs and have become hedonistic, materialistic, and sensual. Others are turning to other religions, or to atheism.

It’s as though we are caught up in a great whirlpool of iLOVE, a tempest of lust, greed, and spiritual death. It’s difficult during such times not to imagine we might be in the last of the last times, where there is a great falling away.

The encouraging thing is that millions around the world, people caught up by terror and persecution, are searching for and finding the love of God in Christ.

Frank/April 21, 2016