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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 30, 1957)
eric am sm: Its Meaning and Its Keeping v 1 These remarks tran the President ctf e Htftea' States were coittpfliXl by the White Hoil 4 Q : r . . M. inlw message for eftfilftve release today I N of fourth of July speeches, we say America seeks no dominion over others, that she believes in the dignity of man. We say these things, and wo Ix-lieve them, for they are true. Hut an American can scarcely consider that he is doing his full duty to his country unless he slum's this belief in Americanism, and realizes that he is showing himself to others as one of the products of this system. As an Amer ican, you are set apart from all other individuals. First, you must know what Americanism really is. You have got to know that here we have a government of, by, and for free men, and one based solidly on religious concepts. You also must know something of the history of your country, how we came to be what we are. You have got to believe with all your soul that it is a system that will allow people to reach the greatest degree of earthly happiness of which we are capable, that we can seek to express ourselves, to realize all that is within us. In our own land, it is largely through the family that our national character is formed. Americans love fair play, bravery, and hard work; they believe in human brotherhood because American fathers and mothers by precept and example teach these virtues to their children. So long as these ennobling qualities are passed from general ion to generation, our nation will remain strong ami secure a.id groat. Faced with this fact, it is imperative that our Government never rest in its task of serving the Am.itican home. In every wav possible, we must keep our families spiritually rich, strong, and free. To this end, many groups-health, educational, welfare, religious) and Governmental-must work together to supplement the efforts of the family itself, this work to strengthen the American home is not sheer humanitarianism on the part of these groups; it is an investment in the national well-being. Amcca seeks peace. But unless peace is taught in the home by the mother, anting that age where everything that is learned and absorbed stays with us so strongly there ,s go.ng , be no peace. This is the foundation on which the men and women ot our nation can build an abiding happiness for them selves and their children. Without God. of course, there could be no American form of government, nor any American way of hfe. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first and most basic expression of Americanism. Thus the Founding Father, saw it. and thus, with God s help, it will continue to be with nvm!' Tm r" Vu'Yll'S Ind,-' Day is narrow, long. fend sct k o H '" d"V We nU1St ,ht AlmiBhty God will Mtnd i S c. t I Z cK " their Gocl-givw rights Utd in, full contiol of a G,e:,met,t dodged to ,lle servatiofc o Oxae, rights, rstsMem of the United States Family fVerfcty, Jut .fi).