Recently, I was in discussion with a few friends. The topic of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before meetings,( having nothing to do with our government,) came up. One friend asked me what had made me feel disinclined to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and my response shocked her. I stated that in my personal opinion,  the recent escalation of flag waving by people in our country, had become a symbol of an ideology embracing distrust of elections, distrust of 1/2 of the citizens of the country, racism and hate. I said I feel that the flag itself has been stolen from me by these people, and I didn't feel safe around these new "Flag Wavers."  I also said that I didn't want to have people think that I agreed with this ideology when/if I chose to wave an American flag. Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag had become problematic for me.
  I explained that these days, when I see a pick-up truck driving down the road with an American flag waving from a pole behind it, I jump to the conclusion that the owner of the car is probably not someone I want to know, and that makes me feel sad and unsafe. To be afraid of violence or anger from a fellow American because he/she has the idea that if I do NOT wave the American flag, I do not love my country, is a sad state of affairs!
The woman asked me how I would feel if I were in Texas where everyone drives with a rifle in the back window of their pick-up trucks. I don't know how the conversation morphed into that, but I told her I would feel even more afraid! Guns are used to strike fear in other people. They are used to kill living animals, and they are dangerous. She thought I was nuts!
  This all got me to thinking. The reason we Americans are all so anxious right now is that we are all afraid of each other! The guns and flag waving are out of fear that "the other side" wants to take away things in people's lives they hold dear. Those of us who do not have guns for self defense are afraid of the people who DO have guns because we worry they think we might be their enemy and get angry enough to shoot us! We are afraid of a virus we cannot see or anticipate, afraid of wearing a mask and angering someone who thinks mask wearing is stupid, afraid of someone who won't get vaccinated, afraid to BE vaccinated, afraid to be shot at the movie theater or a concert, or driving in a car on the freeway. 
  Our country is a work in progress that holds a great deal of promise. Life and happiness and safety are never guarantees however, no matter where you are born to live. Democracy, like a strong marriage, takes a LOT of work! Fear is tearing at the fabric of our national symbol as it is undermining our national ideology. One out of Many, E Pluribus Unum, is an aspiration, but it can never be taken for granted. We are not "one" right now. My question is, have we ever been?