06/13/2026
In a few weeks we will celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States and much has and will be written about how great our nation is and what a noble experiment it is every day of its existence with our unique founding beliefs that the individual has rights given by God and that the primary purpose of government is to secure those rights. As a child I was taught the Declaration was important mostly because it stated the colonies’ desire for independence and that the Constitution is the really important document, but about 30 years ago I discovered I was mis-educated and concluded that though I have enormous reverence and loyalty to the Constitution, the Declaration is in fact the more important of the two founding documents.
The Declaration states the beliefs and principles of our nation – “the what” while the Constitution defines the governing process – “the how.” The Constitution is an amazing governing process document, the best I believe ever written by man, but other processes could be plausibly developed to deliver similar results whereas there are no substitutes for the principles of God given rights and equality stated in the Declaration.
To most Americans these principles are a given we take for granted, but consider for a moment how truly earth shattering they were when written in a time when only monarchs or tribal leaders ruled all of humanity. They are equally earth shattering today when you understand that all other western democracies (except arguably Israel) are based on individual rights granted by the government, not God and as such, those rights can be taken back and that is happening right now in the UK, Canada and Western Europe as free speech is being systematically curtailed and criminally prosecuted.
We enjoy our freedoms today because of our founding documents and the succession of millions of American heroes who sacrificed so much and often their lives, to protect these freedoms as well as some truly amazing leaders who governed our nation through very difficult times by effectively using these founding documents.
That said, we each must do our part to ensure this nation and these principles of freedom continue - we owe this to those past heroes and future generations and for most of us it is simple:
1. Be a truly educated voter, not a talking point, drive-by voter, and participate in every election.
2. Fearlessly defend the principles of the Declaration and the governing process of the Constitution.
The first one is easy and no excuses for those who fail, but the second one used to be easy but has become more difficult in recent years as careers and sometimes even lives have been put at risk for simply standing up for our founding principles, and on this 250th national birthday we need to re-commit ourselves to doing our duty and defending these values.
Whether you agree with me or not, please read the commencement address recently delivered at the University of Texas at Austin by Justice Clarene Thomas which better states what I attempted above and can be found at this link.
