Today marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. With a document that has independence in its title, and indeed, we call this very day Independence Day, we might be forgiven for thinking that one of the defining virtues of this Nation, perhaps even the most important, is independence. I think a lot of us like to think of America as filled with a bunch of rugged individualists who are capable of taking care of things by themselves. But look at the very last sentence of the Declaration of Independence - “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” (Declaration of Independence). We are only celebrating our nation’s continued independence because generation after generation of Americans have supported that independence by relying on God's protection and mutually pledging to each other everything they have. We are called the United States of America. When we neglect to mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honors to each other, then we become united in name only. We may tell ourselves that we are the land of the free and the home of the brave, but this is only possible as long as we respect each other and commit ourselves to helping and supporting each other. Any political factions or entertainment programs or social media algorithms that seek to undermine or dissolve the mutual respect and support that we have for each other are as dangerous to our continued independence as any form of tyranny. Let us join our Founding Fathers and renew our pledge to each other that we will devote our lives and our fortunes and our sacred honor to each other and remember that this is the only way that we can be truly United.
