This year celebrates the 236th Independence Day of the United States.
At the recent media conference in South America, the story of the the United States’ founding was shared. This story captures the essence of what makes America great. More than its political or economic system, what makes this nation great is its founding principles.
The Founding Fathers laid the keystone for this nation when they risked their lives and signed the Declaration of Independence. It articulated the spiritual principles and values that became the foundation of our modern notion of human rights and freedoms.
“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.”
The United States set a bold precedent. They affirmed God as the source of all fundamental human rights that no human institutions could curtail, and acknowledged God as the center of the nation. At a time when state-sponsored religions in Europe limited the freedom of worship, they opened the way for a religiously, racially, culturally diverse nation under God.
This is the legacy of the United States and the heart of the American Dream.
It is time to inherit the vision of the Founding Fathers and uplift America as one nation under God.