Let Freedom Ring

On 4 July 2026, the United States of America will celebrate 250 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This event is celebrated annually. Independence Day is a reminder of the formal separation from British colonial rule over the colonies that became a new self-governing country following the war for independence. In the aftermath of the war, was the emergence of a nation committed to liberty, equality, and self-governance. The holiday filled with fireworks and the joy of outdoor events is itself a reminder of the freedom from oppression realized by European settlers at the time of independence.

While there has been struggle for freedom for all and the attainment of equal rights for all is elusive, the principles of liberty, equality, and self-governance continue to support the quest for justice. The rights of indigenous people is yet ahead, with on-going challenges to land rights, sovereignty and even birth right citizenship for Native Americans and other indigenous people being threatened by Executive Order 14160, Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.

The gains made by the Civil Rights movement are also under attack with programs focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion categorized as “illegal discrimination” in Executive Order 14151,  Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. EO14173 states: “Illegal DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system. Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American Dream should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.”

The spirit of the executive orders attempts to deny access to intentional inclusion for all people especially in places that have long excluded people of color and women. The freedoms and protections provided through law are being rolled back even as immigrants and communities of color are being militarized by police and immigration enforcement.

Two hundred and fifty years later, the United States is itself a colonial power, a self-identified and affirmed global superpower, with the current administration asserting control over other countries like Venezuela and leveling threats to take over Greenland. Liberty, equality and justice are not only for people who live in the United States. These values are also shared by other people and countries who also want to be free to live.

The external threats leveled at other countries echo the tyrannical tone being struck by the administration across the United States and around the world. Following the U.S. capture of the president of Venezuela, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said: “We’re a superpower. And under President Trump, we are going to conduct ourselves as a superpower.” In this case, being a superpower holds no compassion or responsibility for one’s neighbors.

Instead, as Miller noted: “We live in a world in which you can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else. But we live in a world, in the real world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.” That is power that is as oppressive as British rule and perhaps more so because the fight for freedom has been long and on-going. Strength and power are oppositional to freedom and inclusion, they are set to erode liberty, justice and equality – locally, globally and nationally.

The cry is the same today as it was in yesteryears: “Let freedom ring.” Freedom that is for all of God’s created.

“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.” July 4 is months away, and yet the contemplation of independence and freedom is here and now.