“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (from the Declaration of Independence)
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” (Preamble of the Constitution of the United States)
We, in the United States, celebrate the 4th of July holiday: Independence Day. Many of us will spend the holiday enjoying family and friends while grilling out doors or taking summer trips. In the midst of the holiday leisure, there is no better time than the 4th of July to consider what it means for us to be part of the United States.
Our founders had a clear vision: that people were created equal and had fundamental rights, including rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They also recognized human limitations. Very carefully, they set out to form “a more perfect union.” The word choice makes it very apparent: they weren’t claiming perfection in the union of states, but they were working toward that. To that end, they valued the establishment of justice (or fair relationships among people), tranquility in life, and the general welfare of others. While they were limited by their own history and culture, only assuring fundamental rights to men who owned land, they created a system to allow their vision of basic human rights to grow as history changed. So it did as women and people of African descent joined to fully participate as equal partners in the republic. In these ways, the union has become a bit more perfect, but it’s clearly not perfected.
In our day, we face great struggles within this union. While our founders were clear in establishing a base-line of common ideals and values to serve the foundation of the union, there are many people in the United States today who actively disregard those values. Rather than striving for liberty and justice for all, they work to impose their narrow values on others. In doing so, I believe that such people are cutting into the fabric that makes us the United States of America.
Perhaps the most obvious cases of people attempting to limit the liberty of others and the general welfare of the country come from radical religious conservatives. They insist that their beliefs about contraception, abortion, and marriage should limit the fundamental rights of others for liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I find many of their claims illogical, at best. It’s nothing less than lunacy to suggest that one’s own marriage is somehow diminished by the marriage of another couple. It makes no sense at a time when the global population is growing beyond the capacity of the Earth to sustain it to attempt to limit another’s use of medically safe contraception. In what other context would society tolerate a debate on an individual’s choices of medical care and procedures other than in pregnancy? Yes. Their logic is baffling.
What’s particularly unique about the union shared as the United States is that our founders foresaw the potential of religious and moral issues from tearing republic apart, so they made a very clear decision: that no religion would be established in the United States. This happened precisely because in the colonial era, each colony had an established religion. Colonies in New England officially established Congregational Christianity (today better known at the United Church of Christ) as their official religion; colonies in the South established the Anglican Church (today better known as the Episcopal Church) as their official religion; only Pennsylvania permitted free choice of religion, but Mormons were not welcome in Pennsylvania; and Catholics were tolerated in Maryland. Baptists were not recognized in any colony and were generally persecuted. Out of the significant barriers faced due to religion in the colonial era, the founders of the United States made a clear distinction between church and state. Today, radical religious conservatives attempt to re-write history, claiming that Christianity was the official religion of the US. In fact, many of the founders were Unitarian and George Washington, while attending an Anglican Church, left at communion each Sunday and practiced the rites of the Masons. Our founders were very clear that religion and personal belief needed to be separate from the establishment of the union.
On this 4th of July, I affirm that founding vision of the United States: that all people are created equal; that all people have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and that we are each free to practice our individual beliefs and are also free from the imposition of the beliefs of others. All these things are foundations for our union. When they aren’t respected, the union is weakened.
