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Show JUST WHAT IS AMERICANISM '"" By Edwin L. Peterson Utah State University Although we should be aware of Americanism each day of our life, we do set February aside as a month in which we stop to take a little closer look at what Americanism Amer-icanism means to us. We do this, in part, because we wish to do honor to two great Americans who were born this month, Washington and Lincoln. We do this because be-cause these men symbolize the thousands of Americans who have lived and died to make what we call "Amer- canism" possible. What is Americanism? It is not a hard and fast thing that can be easily measured, weighted weight-ed or counted. It is a series of beliefs, of ideas and of ideals, of feelings that we incorporate in-corporate into our way of life. It la measurable in the Constitution Consti-tution of the United States, which is the central source of these beliefs. It can be weighed in the courts of law and our freedom of speech. It can be counted in our freely cast ballots at each election . . . but in each case . . . only in part. Real Americanism includes in-cludes these things . . . and many others. Americanism is freedom in its finest sense. It is the equality of all men before the law. It raises high the dignity dig-nity of the individual citizen and guarantees his right to hold property, tc make his own choices in politics and in social so-cial grouping. It is not aware of the masses or classes, and it is color blind. Americanism American-ism encompasses a belief in God, but guarantees each man the right to worship his God in a manner of his own choosing. choos-ing. Americanism every day humbly thanks God for the many blessings that it enjoys. These few words do not start to explain " Americanism . . . they were not meant to. They merely point to its importance im-portance in our life today. Americanism is as broad as America . . . and many people peo-ple beyond the range of America Amer-ica yearn to share some of the benefits that Americanism offers. of-fers. These statements are merely signposts of what we look toward. These things that we enjoy in such abundance did not come easily. Ea'ih one -of them was won by us, and those who preceded us. Each ''right", each "privilege" was slowly carved out because our ancestors an-cestors wanted us to have them. Those folks who preceded us looked over their own situation and were not satisfied with it. They assembled and held on to the parts of their life that they liked and wanted to save, and then struggled and fought for others that they did not have, but wanted to pass along to us. It was not easy to get the right to vote, to get the right to be tried by a jury, to get the right, to read a paper of your own choosing or worship wor-ship God in your own way . . . and on each occasion they had to defend these things after they had acquired them. We owe them a deep debt of gratitude for what they have willed to us, and we are obligated obli-gated to do the same for our own. Each generation of Americans Ameri-cans must look at what they have and see if they are satisfied sat-isfied with it. Each generation genera-tion of Americans must take inventory of their heritage and see that it is what they want . . . and if they truly still have it. Each generation of Americans has been called upon to defend the principles of this heritage we call Americanism. Amer-icanism. They have defended it by words, by written forms . . . and when all else failed ... on the field of battle. We of The American Legion should be very much aware of this. Our basic obligation has not changed. We still must examine exam-ine our system ... be fcware of it and its benefits and blessings . . . and be ready to defend it. We must also be prepared to pass along to our children a belief in Americanism. Ameri-canism. We must make the next generation of Americans aware of what Americanism truly means, and how it must be preserved and defended. We must make it live for them . . . we must make them believe in it ... as we believed in it . . . and as those who gave it to us believed in it. This is also Americanism. |