declaration of independence – Religion & Liberty Online

July 04, 2025

Remembering the Real Revolution of July 4

The words are engrained in our national consciousness: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are … endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Continue Reading...

June 24, 2025

Fidelity Month Is a Time for Renewal

Now in its third year, the Fidelity Month movement calls for a nationwide recommitment during the month of June to America’s historic sources of unity and strength: our shared fidelity to God, our spouses and families, our local communities, and our country. Continue Reading...

December 18, 2024

T.S. Eliot and Abraham Lincoln: Christian Humanists

On November 4, 1932, the Friday before the national election that would send Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the White House, T.S. Eliot spoke for the first time as the Norton lecturer at Harvard University. Continue Reading...

July 04, 2022

How Frederick Douglass found hope on the Fourth of July

On July 5, 1852, nearly a decade before the start of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass, a freed slave and statesman-abolitionist, offered a profound speech on seeing the Fourth of July through the eyes of a slave. Continue Reading...

November 15, 2021

Removing statues won’t erase the past, could mar the future

Monuments have been created for thousands of years. The word monument itself finds its Greek etymological roots in Mnemosyne, the name of the ancient goddess of memory and mother of the nine muses. Continue Reading...

July 08, 2021

In celebrating American liberty, let’s not forget the role of religion

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress officially endorsed the Declaration of Independence. Parades, public readings, and bonfires ensued. These spontaneous celebrations developed into the Independence Day traditions that Americans still enjoy today. Continue Reading...

July 23, 2020

Hong Kong and the enduring value of the Declaration of Independence

American exceptionalism cannot be appreciated without contrast. Compare these two scenes: On Wednesday night throngs of rioters rampaged through Seattle’s Capitol Hill district, inflicting “massive amounts of property damage, looting,” and “arson” without sustaining a single arrest. Continue Reading...

July 09, 2018

Alejandro Chafuen calls Europe to embrace freedom

Europe is currently absorbed with the task of finding a unifying force among its diversity of culture and values. How can Europe become e pluribus unum– one out of many? Continue Reading...

July 04, 2018

US to UK: Embrace ‘spirit’ of Declaration of Independence for Brexit

On this Fourth of July, the U.S. ambassador to the UK has written an op-ed encouraging the government to embrace the spirit of the Declaration of Independence. Robert Wood Johnson’s op-ed points to the special relationship that grew up following our Revolution to strengthen Theresa May’s flagging resolve as Brexit talks lumber forward. Continue Reading...

July 04, 2016

Natural rights and social duties

“Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought.” – Lord Acton Today, people across the United States will march in parades, set off fireworks, and don red, white, and blue to huge family cookouts, all in celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Continue Reading...

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