Politics vs Patriotism

From Fear to Fulfillment

When a close friend of mine saw the cover of my new book From Fear to Fulfillment, one of the first things that he commented on was how the cover was “very political”.

“Political”, I mused. I had been thinking “Patriotic”.

I spent a bit of time reflecting upon his sentiment. Sadly, after quite a bit of thought, I concluded he was absolutely correct. For those who have not seen the cover, it depicts an American flag waving in the wind as the sun shines through it. Interestingly, the sun creates this beautiful silhouette of the cross embedded in the canton of the flag. According to the photographer the photo had not been altered or photoshopped in any fashion - the cross shaped phenomenon was completely organic.

As soon as I first saw the picture, I knew it would become the cover of the book. In it, I saw all the principles that are outlined in the subtitle - A Fight for Faith, Family, and Freedom. To me our flag stands for freedom, goodness, and hope. Guided by God, generations of brave men and women have defended these principles and our great land from enemies across the globe and from within. It is a singular county and its history is profound.

Tragically, the social commentary of the day has devolved into some witless battle of firebombing with each party attempting to out insult the other. It seems as if everything is political these days, and the insults being hurled are so personal and hate filled it’s numbing…

In my book I outline a path forward. I refer to this as Wake Up, Speak Up, Step Up. I will be addressing this vital program in much more depth in future blogs. In hindsight I think I might have included Stand Up… If you are an American, standing up for our great land should never be considered political and patriotism should never be conflated with politics.

It is time to stand up and be counted. Stand up for our history. Stand up for our future.

The time is now, and now is the time.

- Elliott