Saturday

The Lone Ranger Creed


(Me as a 7-year-old Lone Ranger)
When I was a young boy, I would often 'play' the Lone Ranger.  As a city boy growing up on the south-side of Chicago, imagining being a Texas Ranger in the American Old West might as well have been fantasizing myself as a space cadet in one of the farthest galaxies imaginable.  There wasn't many people carrying 'unconcealed' six-shooters in side holsters, riding horseback, or wearing cowboy hats roaming the streets of Chicago, if you know what I mean...

Still, I loved the super-hero-like character of the Lone Ranger going about doing good, fighting injustice, and making the world a better place.   With all that we've seen in society lately with leaders in every sphere of influence (church, business, sports, education, politics, etc.) failing to live up to the standards worthy of being a role model, and even participating in lawlessness at times, I thought it was time for my old friend the Lone Ranger to show up on the scene once again.
In every incarnation of the character to date, the Lone Ranger has conducted himself by a strict moral code. This code was put in place by Fran Striker at the inception of the character. Actors Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, taking their positions as role models to children very seriously, also tried their best to live by this creed.
"I believe...
That to have a friend, a man must be one.
That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.
That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.
In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.
That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.
That 'this government of the people, by the people, and for the people' shall live always.
That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.
That sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.
That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.
In my Creator, my country, my fellow man."


Perhaps we'll see some courageous, straight-shooting men (and women) like the Lone Ranger coming across the landscape again.  Perhaps those men and women will be you.

For fun: Check out some of the classic episodes I enjoyed as a kid!


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