In Celebration of Freedom

Federal holidays represent a handful of dates throughout the year on which most of us are free from work obligations and able to spend time with our loved ones. The gift giving associated with Christmas makes it a particularly popular holiday with many children, who are rather more interested in discovering what Santa Claus has brought them than they are in the achievements of the American workers we celebrate on Labor Day. While this is an innocent behavior among the very young, who cannot—and indeed should not—be expected to grasp the full depth and meaning of holidays like Veterans Day and Memorial Day, it is reasonable to expect that all Americans should become familiar with the significance of such holidays as their sensibilities mature. After all, it could be said that there are two dimensions to every holiday, and if we appreciate them merely for the presents they produce and the brief respites from work they provide, we are failing to honor the true purposes of these deeply important days. Today, as we enjoy fireworks in the sky and the company of the ones dearest to us, let us take a brief moment to remind ourselves of the real meaning of Independence Day.

American Independence Day is celebrated on July 4th, in honor of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. It was at this point that colonial Americans officially ratified their separation from the British Empire, which had for some time treated the colonists unjustly. The Declaration of Independence, penned by Thomas Jefferson, is aptly named, as it formally declared the reasons the colonies required freedom from the British. It is from this document that a line well known to Americans originates: “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.” This is the essence of American independence, and this is what it means to be free in the United States.

We in the United States enjoy an unparalleled level of personal liberty. It is a thing for which we should be deeply thankful, but with this freedom comes the need for strong personal responsibility. We must not abuse the privilege of our liberty by exercising it in ways that would work contrary to the very ideals on which it was founded. There has been much talk in the past several years of just how far our freedom extends, whether we are free to be flagrantly dishonest, openly hostile, and publicly vile. Belligerence has been permitted to masquerade under a patina of patriotism. On too many occasions, we have been forced to ask ourselves whether many Americans have acted in ways quite becoming of the principles for which our forefathers so desperately fought.

On this most American of holidays, let us remember the true meaning of freedom and what was required for us to attain it. Let us recognize how uniquely fortunate we are—even among other Western nations—and let us pledge to use our liberty to do good things for others. Above all, let us never take for granted our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—gifts, indeed, that people of all ages can and must appreciate.

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

-Pope John Paul II