Meaning of Flag Draped Coffin

Propaganda is this font. Commentary is this font

I get a fair amount of patriotic propaganda that includes appeals from a religious/statist perspective. Often, the propagators claim that the US is some sort of exceptional nation-state for which normal rules of skeptical regard toward governments ought not apply. If they don't make this claim outright, they trust the reader to have incorporated the claim into his thinking.

One such piece purports to instruct readers in the meaning of folding a flag. It uses loaded words that are meant to evoke a positive emotive response, predisposing the reader to regard service to the state as a virtue superior to service to his own best interests. Take a look at this piece:

All Americans should be given this lesson. Those who think that America is an arrogant nation should really reconsider that thought. Our founding fathers used GOD's word and teachings to establish our Great Nation and I think it's high time Americans get reeducated about this Nation's history. Pass it along and be proud of the country we live in and even more proud of those who serve to protect our 'GOD GIVEN' rights and freedoms. To understand what the flag draped coffin really means...... Here is how to understand the flag that laid upon it and is surrendered to so many widows and widowers. Do you know that at military funerals, the 21-gun salute stands for the sum of the numbers in the year 1776? Have you ever noticed the honor guard pays meticulous attention to correctly folding the United States of America Flag 13 times? You probably thought it was to symbolize the original 13 colonies, but we learn something new every day! The 1st fold of the flag is a symbol of life. The 2nd fold is a symbol of the belief in eternal life. The 3rd fold is made in honor and remembrance of the veterans departing the ranks who gave a portion of their lives for the defense of the country to attain peace throughout the world. The 4th fold represents the weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in time of war for His divine guidance. The 5th fold is a tribute to the country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, 'Our Country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong.' The 6th fold is for where people's hearts lie. It is with their heart that They pledge allegiance to   the flag of the United States Of America, and the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. The 7th fold is a tribute to its Armed Forces, for it is through the Armed Forces that they protect their country and their flag against all her enemies, whether they be found within or without the boundaries of their republic. The 8th fold is a tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day. The 9th fold is a tribute to womanhood, and Mothers. For it has been through their faith, their love, loyalty and devotion that the character of the men and women who have made this country great has been molded. The 10th fold is a tribute to the father, for he, too, has given his sons and daughters for the defense of their country since they were first born. The 11th fold represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and glorifies in the Hebrews eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The 12th fold represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in the Christians eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. The 13th fold, or when the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost reminding them of their nations motto, 'In God We Trust.' After the flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on the appearance of a cocked hat, ever reminding us of the soldiers who served under General George Washington, and the Sailors and Marines who served under Captain John Paul Jones, who were followed by their comrades and shipmates in the Armed Forces of the United States, preserving for them the rights, privileges and freedoms they enjoy today. There are some traditions and ways of doing things that have deep meaning. In the future, you'll see flags folded and now you will know why. Share this with the children you love and all others who love what is referred to, the symbol of ' Liberty and Freedom.'  MAYBE THE SUPREME COURT SHOULD READ THIS EXPLANATION BEFORE THEY RENDER THEIR DECISION ON THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. FORWARD IT; MAYBE SOMEONE WITH THE NECESSARY POWER, OR POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL INFLUENCE, WILL GET IT TO THEM. IN THE MEANTIME, MAY GOD PROTECT US ALWAYS. ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. 'In God We Trust' This propaganda is all about flag worship. I checked Snopes :http://www.snopes.com/military/flagfold.asp. I checked TruthorFiction:http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/foldsoftheflag.htm

This is a lie. Obedience to, allegiance to, or regard for a man-made article is idolatry. The pledge was developed by a self-avowed national socialist by the name of Francis Bellamy in 1892 to indoctrinate children into believing that service to the state is a virtue, and to persuade people that something called the Nation supported such flag worship. All governments are intrinsically evil. They are developed by people who are wicked. They are used by the wicked to rule the wicked. So-called Christians who promote flag worship will answer to their saviour.

Here is a response:

"I don't believe anyone is promoting WORSHIP of the flag - but a definite reverence for the GOODNESS it symbolizes. I cannot disagree more with the statement that all governments and the people who create them are"wicked" and/or "evil." Our founding fathers were good and decent men who fought to throw off the shackles of tyranny and allow men to live free - as God intended. It is easy to be cynical about government. It takes more effort, thought, faith, and strength to actually believe in and participate and continue to keep our country a shining beacon for the world. To suggest one cannot be a good Christian and still say the pledge of allegiance or be a good American is...well......fanatical. And dangerous. I don't know who Doc Ellis is, but I'd appreciate being taken off of this email group."

This was my reply:
A real Christian understands that people are wicked out the gate.

• By the Bible, there are no good and decent men.
• By the Bible, people would rather believe lies than face the truth of their own nature, or that of those who lived before.
• By the Bible, what men regard as good, God regards as evil.

God intended that his people revere him of their own free will. If they would rather pledge allegiance to a symbol, they have that right to do so.

You know who I am.

I stand by what I wrote: The pledge is a lie. Veneration of the american flag is idolatry. So-called Christians who promote flag worship will answer to their lord.

Here are comments by the gal that sent this propaganda to me:

"please do not email your views to people on my email list, I sent you that thing on the flag and I don't appreciate you using my list of email addresses to voice your views, if you want to send them to me that's fine please leave my other friends off your email returns. by the way that had NOTHING to do with worship. I don't worship the flag, I'm proud to be an American, and our forefathers fought against tyranny. no where in the Bible does it say you can not love your country or not to protect it from others. this nation was founded on scripture and christian principals and it is not a sin to pledge allegiance to things that are Godly or concepts that are based on scripture"

And my reply:

The problem is that there is no Biblical authority for allegiance to the state. Your kingdom, and your concerns, are not of this world. You are only called to preach the gospel, not to defend or advance worldly concerns. You are directed to focus on advancing God's agenda, not those agendas of men. There are no indications in the Bible that church and state should work together.

Please note: Satan operates by leading you to believe that what you are doing is right. God tells folks that they are wrong. In the Bible, kings are almost always bad guys. In American history, presidents are good guys.

I regard fighting tyranny as a good thing. God may regard fighting tyranny as an usurpation of his own order. You are correct that the Bible does not prohibit loving your country. Nor does the Bible prohibit me from labeling love of country as a form of national socialism. Now, you know that I can back up what I believe. So far, not one person has provided a rational rebuttal to my views. I think that the fact that several folks have whined about my views and have asked not to get them is a very strong indication that I am on the right path in denouncing the views in pro-state propaganda.

My friend's response:

"it's really amazing that you have admitted to not believing in Christ but yet you find it necessary to tell those of us that do how to live our lives, you are not an authority on how christians should live and you have no business telling us how to live. just because the Bible does not come out and say not to do something does not mean we can't. the Bible says nothing about smoking, but yet most christians feel that it is wrong. we have to care about our freedoms and our country in order to keep our right to worship as we please. and just to remind you King David and Solomon were some of the most holy and honest men to ever rule a people or country and they were both "hand picked" by God. And Jesus Christ will return and rule as King. and the Bible makes it very clear that we are to give to God what is God's and what is Caesar's give to Caesar. the Bible is also very clear that we are to obey those in authority over us because ALL our rulers, kings, presidents or whatever are there because God allows them to be there. If you don't like this country why don't you pack up and go live somewhere else and see how long you remain a free person for voicing your anti-goverment nonsense. you sure enjoy the rights this country and goverment allow you to have but yet you whine and complain about how bad it is.....the only person I've heard whining lately is you"

So far, no one has managed to make a case that reverence for a flag is a good thing. In fact, one promoter of flag reverence claims that government or a metaphysical nonentity (“this country”) grants to you your right to act, and your life belongs to the state (Caesar), not to God or to yourself.


update 24 Sep 2009 http://www.banned-books.com/truth-seeker/1994archive/121_5/ts215b.html  "The Gold Fringed Flag", by Bohren, 1994  The fringe on U S flag denotes that the area over which it flies is under the command of U S President or U S Military.  


http://scmla.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/history-of-the-us-civil-flag/  "History of the US Civil Flag"
So Cal Martial Law Alerts, 9 Sep 2009   A discussion of civil vs military flags.

Six Boys and Thirteen Hands

Copyrighted propaganda at http://iwvpa.net/powersmt/index.php. I have posted a link because the whiny author filed a complaint with Blogger. See the comments.

SIX BOYS AND THIRTEEN HANDS ....
(written about 2000 by Mike Powers)

This starts the copyrighted section as read by me, using this font and size.

Added material are in bold in this font and size. Commentary is in this font and size.

Powers claims that he takes annual trips to Washington DC to videotape children, something that he remembers fondly.

Powers said that he and the children tarried at the world’s largest bronze idol depicting six government employees collaborating in a photo op.

Powers said a loiterer asked the mob of charges and their caretakers whence they had traveled.

Powers said when the loiterer heard they were cheese-heads, he told them that he was James Bradley, author of a book, and offered to tell them a story if they would come closer to him.

Bradley claimed to be descended from one of the government employees.

Bradley said that a half-a-dozen juveniles raised a flag. Harlan Block, whose claims to heroism were that he was an athlete and a government employee, depicted putting a pole into the ground, was the first subject of Bradley’s remarks. Without intending to gross his listeners out, he said that 21-year-old Block died handling his own guts. He incoherently said that the majority of juveniles at Iwo Jima were 17-19 years old and something was so difficult that survivors wouldn’t talk about it.

Bradley pointed out 18-year-old New Hampshire resident Rene Gagnon who carried a photo of his girlfriend in his helmet lining as a totem against his fear.
Bradley repeatedly said that juveniles, not senior citizens, won the Iwo Jima conflict.

Bradley continued his story by discussing Sergeant Mike Strank. Bradley said that ‘the old man’ Strank, 24, was hero to the other juveniles and to him. Strank, knowing that he was talking to little boys, would promise that he would get them home to their mommies, instead of trying to motivate them by appeals to prejudice or nationalism.

Bradley said the fourth subject, Arizona Pima Ira Hayes, one of 27 survivors (out of 250 comrades) of the battle, rejected President Truman’s compliment that he was a hero, asking how to feel like a hero when so many of his friends died.

Bradley likened Marine life to school life: in which 250 guys enjoy doing together everything during a year, then go to the beach, and 223 guys die. He said that Hayes, while drunk from trying to erase the pain of horrific mental images, died ten years after the photo opp.

Bradley said that the fifth guy, Franklin Sousley, a high-spirited irresponsible juvenile resident of Hilltop, KY, once fed Epsom salts to a pair of cows that he and a friend confined on a store porch. The cows pooped until morning. He sure was a high-spirited irresponsible juvenile who died at 19 on Iwo Jima. His mother freaked out all night after a shoeless child delivered to her a telegram informing her that Franklin was dead. Neighbors a quarter-mile away could hear her carrying on.

(What’s the point? The woman just found out that she had wasted part of her life. Her son, in whom she had invested so much of her resources, was gone.)

Bradley concluded his tour of the idol by talking about his father, John Bradley, a home town resident until he died in 1994. Bradley senior taught his kids to lie about him so folks would not interview him.

Bradley said that his dad, a medic who may have held over 200 writhing and screaming juveniles without pain relief until they died, like Haynes, did not see himself as a hero just because he was part of an idol or a picture.

Bradley reminisced that a teacher idolized his dad as a hero. His dad disagreed by admonishing him to remember that the guys who died were the heroes. The guys who died were the heroes.

Bradley summarized that three juveniles died and three juveniles returned acclaimed heroes from the historically worst battle fought by the Marines. He thanked his listeners and ended his remarks.

Powers perceives the idol as more than scrap with a rag on top. To Powers, the idol lives because an adult son of an amorphous hero spoke.

This ends the copyrighted portions as read by me. The following items within [brackets] are apocryphal:

[We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice

[Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terrorism and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom.

[Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray for those still in murderous unrest around the world.

[STOP and thank God for being alive and being free at someone else's sacrifice.

[God Bless You and God Bless America

[REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's going to be a great day.

[One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC that is not mentioned here is ... that if you look at the statue very closely and count the number of 'hands' raising the flag, there are 13. When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply said the 13th hand was the hand of God.

[“Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it, shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.”]

This is a lovely well written bit of pro-State propaganda, by Michael Powers, http://iwvpa.net/powersmt/index.php at around 2000, or so. Someone claiming to be Powers has complained to me, saying that I need his permission to post his propaganda. Since I got this from someone without any attribution, I have no obligation to respect Powers or his complaint.

I checked Snopes athttp://www.snopes.com/military/sixboys.asp I found this story at Truth or Fiction: :http://truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/bravesoldiers.htm. Both accounts that I saw included the observation that the last few paragraphs of this piece were included after Powers wrote it. A photographer, Joe Rosenthal, reportedly photographed the second raising of a Flag on a mountain five days into a thirty-five day battle. This picture lead to the sculpting of the USMC War Memorial idolized in “Six Boys”. The “Flag” picture was actually a propaganda effort. See here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima for information on the battle, here for the taking of the “Flag” picturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jimaand here for the making of the statue:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USMC_War_Memorial.

“Six Boys and Thirteen Hands”(Six Boys) is corrupt. The underlying premise to this piece is that your life belongs to someone else, that you have an obligation to serve nonentities called by such names as “faith,” “family,” or “fatherland”.

You don’t need someone to fight on your behalf at everyone’s expense. You can defend yourself. You can delegate your defense at your expense to a willing agent. You have the right to decide whether to use lethal or non-lethal reaction to aggressive action directed against you. You do not have the right to inflict collateral damage, that is, casualties on noncombatants.

You owe nothing to a metaphysical nonentity. Nor do you owe a duty to someone or something, just because you are alive.

What is freedom for which so many “lay down their lives?” Here is a definition of freedom: · "Freedom in its most elemental state is the power to withdraw one's consent when the State-or anyone else-lays an improper claim to one's life or property." -Will Grigg Reflections on Resurrection Sunday: We're Commanded to be Free ProLiberate 3.23.2008http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/search?q=reflections+on+resurrection+day

In a Utopian world, our agendas would all be compatible. In the real world, we often have partially-or even totally- incompatible agendas. Some of us try to resolve differences through negotiation. Some of us use force, -or threaten to use force –to authorize us to seize what we want. Some of us support one or the other.

The core of this paean to sacrifice is that some 7,000 men died to secure an island of negligible value in the name of securing the freedoms of “the People,” residents of a nation-state.

And this inconsequential event was promoted as a monumental battle for the greater good of the citizens of a nation-state. Many folks saw the flag raising as the climax of the Iwo Jima battle, when in fact, it was just a stunt to elevate the morale of government employees and their family members and friends.

The most pernicious part of “Six Boys” is that there is really no point to Bradley’s remarks. It’s just a collection of words meant to make readers experience emotive reactions in support for government employees.