independence declared

i am inspired by the ideals from the declaration of independence. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are all good things! generally, i will wish others a happy independence day instead of happy fourth of july.

i want to highlight these sections for personal commentary:

“…to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind… 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”

and later in the list of complaints against the king: “He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.”

so, this morning here are my scattered thoughts:

the signers of the declaration give a slight nod to God only twice: as the God of nature and the Creator. this is consistent with their general framework as deists. deists are not christians. it is ironically providential that we are not a “christian” nation in that so many who live here are not christian. with the natural law framework, the basic demands for human rights can be inclusive of all. under the natural law umbrella, rights are seen as inalienable; truth as self evident.

with a deist framework, nationalism could flourish. thus the birth of our civil religion was born. the u.s.a. as a sovereign nation– not england– becomes our focus. God is acknowledged if God serves us in our destiny. the declaration of independence becomes the country’s exodus story; moses and companions are supplanted by those who signed for our freedom. we now have new sacred texts and can bow down to the statues of the men– washington, jefferson, adams et. al– who were the cause for our salvation.

i am glad that the declaration included a mention of importance of independent immigration laws and their implementation. jumping to today and the various immigration needs and challenges we face, it is good to know that it was a struggle from the beginning.

lastly, today is sunday. those of us who are not deists but christian celebrate and worship God. christian worship can be a counter-balance to extreme nationalism. anything that we value more than and worship in place of God is sheer idolatry. we all suffer consequences of misguided loyalties. for us, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have their genesis in God who not only has created us but has redeemed and sanctifies us still.

for this, we give thanks. we are grateful for our independence from england. we are thankful for our dependence on the Lord.

God, source of all freedom,
this day is bright with the memory
of those who declared that life and
liberty
are your gift to every human
being.
Help us to continue a good work
begun long ago.
Make our vision clear and our will
strong:
that only in human solidarity will
we find liberty,
and justice only in the honor that
belongs
to every life on earth.
Turn our hearts toward the family
of nations:
to understand the ways of others,
to offer friendship,
and to find safety only in the
common good of all.
We ask this through Christ our
Lord. Amen.