Over the years I’ve asked my students how they define Independence. Many answers abound; “We got out from under a buffoon for a king sitting over in Britain; The Red Coats can’t order us around any longer; I don’t know, but the fireworks are always exciting; We got our own Constitution.” The list goes on.
In these Untied States, Independence seems to boil down to a way of life in which our burdens are lifted … so that we can make our own choices. We are no longer dependent upon the higher authority of another nation. We are liberated, sovereign. The right to choose our own destiny belongs to us.
Could Independence look something like freedom?
If all our Independence Day celebrations are about freedom, why has freedom not been an unalienable right for all Americans? Does a select class of Americans only deserve it? If Freedom and Justice was written into our Constitution to include all, how are we upholding those doctrines?
Where do we go from 2020 in the name of freedom? Do We the People really decide what is freedom and who is entitled to it? How do we choose? Independence is said to be a great way of life, threaded throughout our American institutions–the only way of life we value!
How does freedom fit into your celebration of Independence Day?