(Editor’s Note: We repost this annually. Happy 4th of July!)
The Glorious Fourth.
Admit it, that phrase sounds a little anachronistic to you, doesn’t it?
But ask yourself why.
Amidst the turmoil we as a nation are experiencing right now, the reassessment of fundamental beliefs, the bitterness and anger on social media and elsewhere, do we not still feel that quiet, almost mystical voice within us reminding us of our extraordinary connection to the Founding? To the then-revolutionary doctrine that a people can be self-governing without the need for a monarch or authoritarian strongman? To the crazy notion that all men are created equal?
Yes, I will make the seemingly obligatory disclaimer here that we are not, as a nation, perfect. That we have not lived up to our ideals to the extent required of us.
But what ideals they are.
They are ideals that basically comprise what America is, far beyond any geographical depiction or call to “blood and soil.” They are transcendent of such things, and they remain revolutionary in a world still prone to elevating power, blood, tribalism as arbiters of justice.
It is well that, on this Glorious Fourth, we remember our Founding and the ideals it established, against all odds, on that distant 4 July 1776 that is forever with us. Doing so provides us the foundation to deal with the struggles we continue to face, struggles I remain confident we will overcome, as we always have.
Happy Independence Day!
Paul Stukel, Editor
