Today is July 4th! It’s the one time of the year you really get to reflect on the country and what it means to be an American. I really wish there was a month-long celebration or maybe even a year-long celebration, but I guess one day will do. After all, it only took six years for us to truly gain our independence.
Once we declared it, our forefathers thought long and hard about what the Declaration of Independence meant and worked even harder to figure out a constitution. A constitution that would survive more than 200 years. It’s really an amazing thing if you think about it: a few colonies spread apart, a few settlers and colonists who decided to brave a huge, vast ocean and all the terrifying ordeals that go with it, land on an unknown continent, and set up shop to live, work, find food, and raise families.
If you stop to think about what our country was founded on, it was freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No, I can’t tell you if the founding fathers were thinking of me specifically when they wrote the Declaration of Independence, or if they were just thinking about themselves, their families, and their children, maybe even their children’s children. What I do know is that our country is pretty spectacular, one-of-a-kind, a conglomeration of multiple different ethnicities, backgrounds, cultures, people, dialects, and experiences. And we all say we’re Americans.
Is America a melting pot? Not really. We assimilate under the same values and goals. Sure, we argue about little differences, but the reality of it is that’s part of being American. Being American means to disagree, but to do it respectfully and to understand what is fair and what is not, what is right and what is wrong. It was a nation founded on principles closely adhering to Judeo-Christian values.
But these values aren’t just Christian. These are values that span multiple religions and cultures. You don’t have to be a Christian to believe that life is sacred, to believe in the goodness of mankind, or to love. But you do have to understand, if you’re not a Christian, what our nation was founded on. And that, my friends, and my fellow Americans, is really what being an American is all about: a common set of ideals and values that set us apart from every other country in the world.
That’s why people come here—to live, breathe, work, and play under the same values and ideals that our country was founded on. A country that was founded on love, liberty, and freedom. I hope this Fourth of July you celebrate it with those you love, remember those you have loved, and remember that freedom isn’t always free. There’s always a payment or sacrifice. Love your neighbor, love your family, love yourself, and love our country.
Happy Fourth of July, everybody. America is awesome!