There’s a wicked lie aflame in the world and it spreads from head to head as fire leaps from tree crown to tree crown in wild woods.

The lie is printed on bumper stickers, appears in pamphlets and on the tongues of men and women that normally are cool of temper and even in temperament.

It goes like this, ‘I love my country. It’s my government I fear.’

On the surface it sounds like a statement of truth, but like most lies its appeal is only skin deep. One bite into it reveals its rancid flesh and the acid juice of this fruit.

For consider – this is our country and our nation and it is ruled by our government – which is a government for the people and by the people.

This is our government – and so when someone tells me they are afraid of the government I can only feel they fear themselves and their relationship with me.

The people that mouth this misshapen logic are those among us most likely to worship a flag – no matter what colors are flying and to follow the commands of some monarch or tyrant no matter where he draws his so-called powers from.

I am not afraid of my government. I am part of my government and invite everyone to participate in it to make it stronger, so that the weakness of fear will not tear down what we have built up with courage.

There are better words for us – ‘We the people…’