A couple of things to celebrate on this day of your Lord and Savior’s (the nation-state) most sacred of holy days:

This book: Reborn on the Fourth of July: The Challenge of Faith, Patriotism and Conscience.

This website: American Jesus (and, ahem, accompanying interview).

Another book: Myths America Lives By.

Perhaps, the most important book of the three: Blood Sacrifice and The Nation: Totem Rituals and the American Flag. (Seriously, stellar scholarly study, yet very accessible.)

And, finally, the song below. Which is, perhaps, one of my favorite love ballads of all time that genuinely discusses, so poetically, the heartbreak that follows unrequited love. And, yes, about 70% of the images, and some of the lyrics, are far too reactionary to be of much interest, but still . . .  don’t most love songs function this way? And how can you not enjoy a band who rips you for, as they say, having “faith in an elephant and a jackass.”

You would have to be silly to be one of those people, right?

(I love the sign at 2:34–such a legitimate question.)

Sorry, it’s not much, but it may get you through the weekend.