The founding document we celebrate today introduces words in its second paragraph that we have long aspired to: “all … are created equal.”
It closes with that declaration of independence rending 13 colonies from a king and kingdom it deemed “unfit to be a ruler of a free people.”
In between, and for most of its 1,333 words, the Declaration lists the signers’ many and specific complaints against “our British brethren.” It mentions God three times but the king a clarion 27.
Today, Americans are a divided people. It must remain so for now, for too many:
Ignore the aspirational values in our founding story.
Deny facts and invent “truths.”
Disrespect and disenfranchise those with good-faith disagreements.
Act selfishly toward people whom circumstance has rewarded less richly.
Reject our rights of privacy.
And cheat and lie to grasp for influence.
But take heart. As the Declaration attests, our nation was born from protest. And protest – more than the fuzzy paeans to patriotism we’ll hear today – is the truest measure of any patriot.
It’s a fact – of history – worth remembering.
Protest.
More on patriotism and July 4
Got past the Glorious Fourth, again
Well said, Jeff. Thank you.
This is what I wrote on my FB page about the holiday:
Many years ago when I was a SOC photographer, I had to shoot the annual Marine event on July 4th. One particular year, the commander spoke of the men who created and signed the Declaration of Independence. I learned something I’d always taken for granted in my awareness of that document: These men risked their lives to do so. They were under siege. Much like we who hold values of human rights and democratic fairness in our government are under siege by those who claim to be “patriots.” It is because we are under siege, because those in power want to strip us of basic human rights that I approach this holiday with a wounded heart and wariness. Plus, I don’t like loud fireworks.
Thank you, Darlene. Nice.
We’ll said
Thanks, Nancy.