America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
. . . .
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
Katherine Lee Bates, “America the Beautiful”
It’s a song we learned in school as children–people my age, at least. Brotherhood and self-control–one does not happen without the other.
There is little evidence that Bates’s message has slipped into the hearts of our public discourse today.
Self-control is a necessary component for every patriot. But self-control is only one virtue of a patriot. Continue reading “Brotherhood and Self-Control”
