Today is the 4th of July, what we Americans call our Independence Day.  Despite the fact that the Declaration was issued a few days earlier than this some 247 years ago.   And, as was true for Israel when it declared its independence in 1948,   our neighbors weren’t so sure we were independent.  OK. For America, it wasn’t  the “neighbors”- it was Britain.  But, even when Britain conceded it lost the States, it wasn’t until the completion of the War of 1812 that our battle(s) with Britain truly achieved our independence.

Unfortunately, too many of us have ‘lost that loving feeling’.  Only 40% still retain our patriotic fervor,  our pride conf all things American.  And for our youth, aged 18 to 34, that sentiment is carried by only 18% of them!

Is America perfect?  Heck no- especially after the last few SCOTUS rulings, some of which clearly had no basis for a decision.  (There was no legal standing by the litigants.).

But, let’s get back to more universal issues.

The US Constitution does not disallow a state from barring a Jew, a Catholic, a Muslim from holding public office.  And, the states did that (at least for Jews up until around 1877.)

Political systems can regulate behavior; they can even try to promote tolerance, but there is no way private intolerance and hatred can be regulated.  (And, unfortunately, our political divide has begun promoting the dislike of others who have opposing views to us, into rampant private (and public)hatred.)

But, we must recall that America at its founding had an unprecedented acceptance of the Jews (in theory)- which induced other nations- France, Great Britain, among other nascent democratic regimes- to afford similar rights.   That led to freer, more truly democratic societies around the world.

We still have no religious test to pass to hold national office, we sill have no national or official faith (sorry WrongWing Christians- that ain’t gonna happen), and we afford freedom of worship and belief across this great nation.

Back in the 1960s, many of our politicians were enamored with declaring it was “their way or the highway”.  OK.   The terms they used was “Love it or leave it”.   Those cries attenuated for a while, but thanks to Trump and his MAGA concept, we are once again setting up severely divisive threats to the body politic.  Too many of our population seem to only have a cartoon idea of what it is that America originated and for what it stands.  Especially as our government routinely violates our Constitution and its first 10 Amendments (which we term our “Bill of Rights“), in the name of protecting us.  And, cowers and demeans our citizens of color, which is why we’ve been seeing almost daily protests across this great land.

Moreover, a good portion of one of our political parties feels it can incite riots in the US Capitol, overturn legal elections, and outlaw the legal votes of minorities and the poor.  So much for the Bill of Rights and Democracy.

It is time for us to truly celebrate the idea of America.  By making sure we make that the reality of America.  Because there still is much to celebrate.  Our values have matured, they’ve endured, and we can still tinker with them to make this place into what we want and need.

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.

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Heavy words, great import- but only if they actually are true.  It’s time they stop ringing hollow for too many of our citizens.

Oh, and happy birthday to my son, Daniel, who graced this world 32 years ago on the 4th of July!  He is my youngest child, but like his two older sisters, they are examples of what is right with America.

We managed to celebrate his birthday together (with his wife) this past weekend at Citizen’s Bank Park (the Phillies’ baseball stadium).