Op-Ed: We Are America’s Heart & Soul and No Political Battle Can Take That from Us

Andrea Izzotti / ShutterstockAn American flag is pictured at the dome of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Andrea Izzotti / Shutterstock)

By Boyd Matheson
Published August 20, 2020 at 7:07pm

From now until the first Tuesday of November, the nation will hear from both political parties and candidates across the spectrum that this election is “the most important election in our nation’s history.”

Every election is the most important because it is all we have. Nothing is more important than exercising the right to make your voice heard and have your vote counted.

A more misleading phrase is the ever-popular, “This election is a battle for the heart and soul of America.” Wrong phrase, wrong battle and wrong war.

Politicians claiming that a political election is for the heart and soul of the nation assume that the heart and soul of the nation belongs to political parties, politicians or institutions of government.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, could be further from the truth.

The heart and soul of the nation is not found in Washington, D.C. It is not housed in the nation’s Capitol. The heart and soul of America is certainly not kept in Congress or held by its members. It is not catalogued in the Library of Congress or stored in Fort Knox. The heart and soul of America isn’t lurking in marbled halls or chiseled stone monuments. The heart and soul of the country is not contained in the White House or the West Wing, nor is it controlled by any woman or man who may reside or work there.

The heart and soul of America can only be found in the heart and soul of the American people.

Adlai Stevenson, a U.S. politician and diplomat who ran for president in 1952 and 1956, eloquently wrote, “When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect.”

The soul of the nation is found in that inner self-respect, self-determination and selfless commitment to community and country. It is also grounded in respect for the dignity of others and tolerance, valuing the unique value in every life, at every stage and in every station.

Do you think this election is a “battle for the heart and soul of America” like Joe Biden says?

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “The essence of America — that which really unites us — is not ethnicity, or nationality or religion — it is an idea.”

America has been described as a mirror. The great American mirror is what allows individuals and communities to look upon themselves and measure what matters most, reflect upon principles and values and assess to what degree they can see themselves living up to what they profess to believe.

Unfortunately( ~~Ultimately)~~

I couldn’t find the best of the best topic so I brought several topics (4 topics 2 of them books)

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