Our flags seem to be lowered more often than they are flying at full height.
Every day, we lose 91 people to gun violence — whether homicide, suicide, unintentional shootings, or shootings by law enforcement.
We don’t lower the flag every day, but we could. And maybe we should.
With each life that’s lost, families are devastated, communities are torn apart, the fabric of our society is shredded. We cannot continue to bear the toll — the emotional, mental, psychological, medical and economic costs are overwhelming.
Children in school and legislators pledge allegiance to the flag each day, proclaiming: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Gun violence is rending our indivisible nation, showing its cracks, its weaknesses, its flaws. We can and must do better. Maybe for a half-staff nation, we need a new pledge:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation that bleeds together, mourns together, and cries out together Enough is Enough.”
Please pledge with us.
