DAD, WHAT's UNABHÄNGIGKEITSTAG?</

Annual Vanity ^ | July 4, 2021 | Nathan Bedford

[nathanbedford]

DAD, WHAT's UNABHÄNGIGKEITSTAG?

"Is that when the thirteen colonies broke away from England?" My ten year inquired out of nowhere at 6 AM German time this morning. "Yeah, why do you want to know, eat your breakfast," I mumbled, too sleepy to be very curious. "Because I am afraid my teacher will ask me, since I am wearing this T-shirt and I'm the only American in the class." With an effort, I adjusted my gaze upward to his white T-shirt. It was brand new. Prominent on his breast was an image of the flag and below that:

OLD NAVY

FREEDOM 2005 TRADITION

Waking up now, I reflected that if the Old Navy company could so shamelessly trade on the image of the flag, it ought in decency at least amend the line below to:

FREEDOM 2005 COMMERCE

But then I thought, what could be more traditional in America than commercializing the flag?

"Waddayamean, you're the only American in class, what's that got to do with the Fourth of July?" My paternal antennae were also coming to life. I remembered that the kids had sometimes returned from Gymnasium, German high school, and recited seemingly off-hand remarks from professors disparaging America and especially George Bush. Some of the hearsay reports had been pretty rough, describing America as killing Iraqis or causing global warming and the like.

"I think he will call on me to explain the Declaration of Independence to the whole class," masking his apprehension. "So, what will you tell them?"

"That is how we got free of England," he replied, in German. "That's right, as far as it goes. Never mind breakfast, lets get to the computer, it time to search Free Republic." A few minutes later we had a copy of the declaration printed out, with the font changed to italics for psuedo verisimilitude to the venerable document.

"There is actually a couple of ideas in here that are more important than announcing our break with England," I said, highlighting with a yellow marker this passage:

that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights

And this passage too:

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

"This means that who you are, what rights you have, come directly from God and not from the government. In fact, the government is there to serve you, as a child of God, not the other way around, and when the government takes away your rights, the government is not legitimate, and you can change it."

"What's legitimate?" Ah, " berechtigt," I answered. I must have gotten it right for he seemed satisfied with the translation and his Deutsch is better than mine. Handing him the printout, I said, "take this with you, read it on the bus, and when you get to class you tell them these ideas are America's gift to the world. A lot of people in Europe think your rights come from the government, not the other way around. No one had ever done this 'for real' before. Look what it says here just before where they signed it, it means they knew they were risking their lives:"

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor

"OK, dad, see ya."

An hour later, his mother asked me, "Did you give him a printout of the Declaration of Independence?" "Yup," I proudly responded.

She laughed, "He said, 'Dad really expects me to read this on the school bus'"

[nathanbedford]

Every year my wife asks, "are you going to post your vanity about the Declaration of Independence again this year?" Her question is really rhetorical, she knows I intend to post it because it has become a tradition in the family much like whether your family opens your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. A family tradition for us as familiar as Thanksgiving turkey.

For us, living as we do here in Germany, it is our way of holding fast to our America. Every year we keep the tradition and then await the reactions of FReepers which have been consistently gratifying and even heartwarming.

So the tradition goes on well into its second decade as the imperative to cling to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution becomes more urgent as our country founders in the midst of a terrible cognitive break down imposed upon us by a stealthy marxist ideology that despises the nation created by the very Declaration of Independence we conservatives properly revere today.

We are buffeted by a sinister and powerful philosophy, critical theory and its evil issue, arrayed against the principles which founded America. There is not a single American institution of note that has not been co-opted by this pernicious and mortal doctrine. Our representative democracy is rendered more vulnerable, almost defenseless, by the malevolent censorship of media in league with a government regime bent on establishing one party rule. No honest patriot can confidently believe in our institutions and certainly no thinking person believes in the integrity of our elections. The judiciary as with virtually every major institution, rather than acting as the Protector of the Constitution, seems to have turned its face from us.

The 10 year old boy in the anecdote exchanged his Tee shirt for a tie and a real suit years ago and we all went proudly off to his German high school graduation, his Abschluss from Gymnasium. Our parental expectations had been, to paraphrase John Kennedy, to send him into the world and onto college equipped with the best of both worlds, a German education and an American birthright, bequeathed to him by the founders in the Declaration of Independence. Recently, he graduated from University.

He has a piece of paper, written out in German, certifying his accomplishment of the course of study laid out in an elite German high school. There is a piece of parchment reposing in the Library of Congress drafted by Thomas Jefferson but written in blood at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Belleau Wood, Iwo Jima, Chosen Reservoir, Tet, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan.

Both belong to him.... If he can keep them.

Happy Independence Day to all from all of us in Germany!

[ConservativeMind]

Nathan, thank you for that.

Stay healthy and happy and stay a patriot!

[Roccus]

Not sure if I’ve done so before...Thank You

[jackibutterfly]

Great article. Thanks for the insightful message. DrBut, why are you in Germany - are you working there and is it permanent?

[jackibutterfly]

Ignore the “Dr” - that was a “butt” typo.

[Laslo Fripp]

Great post…🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[Liz]

Thomas Jefferson’s phrase ...... “all men are created equal”......... meant that no person be of noble birth.

The Brit nobility thing was anathema to the Founders.

Article I, Sections 9 and 10 forbid the federal government or any state government from granting titles of nobility.

[Lurkinanloomin]

If the USA means so much to you, why do you live in another country?

[airborne]

Happy Independence Day to you and your family!

[Fiji Hill]

When I was 17, I was with a group of high school students touring Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Czechoslovakia, and at the start of July, I was staying for a few days with a family in Kindenheim, a village in Rheinpfalz near Ludwigshafen. Incidentally, Bobenheim am Berg, where Donald Trump's great great grandfather was born is about nine miles away, and Kallstadt, where they settled before moving to the US is about the same distance.

On July 4, I told them that this day was Unabhängigkeitstag (Independence Day). I explained to them its significance and described how we celebrate it with fireworks.

[gundog]

If the USA means so little to leftists, why do they live here?

Living abroad can give you a perspective on America that others don’t have.

[T-Bird45]

“Living abroad can give you a perspective on America that others don’t have.”

QFT - my 3 years in West Germany while serving in the US Army are no time at all when compared to nathanbedford yet the perspective shift is still very real. Appreciation for what you have as an American increases as you shift your daily life to a new language, new culture, and new sights.

[null and void]

Well worth the read!

[outofsalt]

"endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights"

I can understand your son's reply in that he was but a boy at the time. A better question would have been, Does dad really think Germans would understand this? They nearly destroyed Europe twice in one century, seeking to rule by force (not by force of ideas).

We Americans have, by and large, lost sight of our founding principles and consumerism (not capitalism) has clouded our wisdom. There is so much that needs to be retaught to our kids. FReegards,

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I remembered that the kids had sometimes returned from Gymnasium, German high school, and recited seemingly off-hand remarks from professors disparaging America and especially George Bush. Some of the hearsay reports had been pretty rough, describing America as killing Iraqis or causing global warming and the like.

What's the big deal? I have no doubt this happens in America, too.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Happy Independence Day, nathanbedford. Sad to say, over the next few years, it might serve you well to remain in Germany, but should America survive, we’ll leave the light on for ya.

[bitt]

p

[El Cid]

Thanks for the post.
All the best to you and your family. Happy 4th!

[Nifster]

Most excellent

[Nifster]

Indeed