The Declaration of Independence and Today

Yesterday, was the Fourth of July, the day we celebrate our freedom from the rule of Britain. In 1776, the colonists did not feel King George III was listening to their wants and needs, and the Declaration of Independence was written establishing our legal separation from England. This document was mostly a long list of charges against the King. He didn’t take too kindly to this and The Revolutionary War began.

Those charges aren’t crucial for today, but the preamble to the declaration is. Believe it or not, I read all the words for the first time yesterday, and the similarities of what is going in this country right now became make me want to go hmmmm …

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Are we listening today with a decent respect for the opinions of humankind?  

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

God created all of us to be equal. It doesn’t say anything about color, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Do you feel people of color, Muslims, folks in marginalized communities, the LBGTQ+ family, or even those who have mental illness feel they can live their lives freely? To pursue their happiness without judgment or ridicule?  

If it were to be rewritten today, I would like to think those words would be included. The funny thing is that when Thomas Jefferson and friends were writing it, all men were not free.

That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Hmmm – the right of the people to stand up to government when they feel they are not being treated fairly or their safety and happiness is at risk.  

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

Something else to ponder …. It is the right and duty of the people to throw off a government when there is a long history of oppression. They have a right to ask for safeguards for their future security.   Doesn’t this sound familiar for today?

What is going on across this country is what the Declaration of Independence is telling us there is every right to fight for. The Revolutionary War was bloody and brutal, and the battle won. Please don’t misunderstand me; I DO NOT condone violence of any kind. It scares me when people hate each other so much they purposely hurt a fellow human being.  

But my question is, can it be done peacefully?

Has a conflict of any magnitude ever been solved with words instead of bloodshed? It seems that the only way real change that has ever been affected in this world is by war. I have to question, is this the only way we know? 

Folks, the government is failing us miserably all the way around. The lines are drawn, and it feels like nobody is listening to each other. Threads on social media platforms are exhausting, and the rhetoric is hateful. Families are fighting within themselves, and friendships are ending. It is so very sad and what are we to do?  

Do any of our elected officials ever sit down, look at each other in the eye, and talk? I don’t think so. Everyone is too busy screaming at each other.  

My daughter keeps telling me she believes it starts with one small conversation at a time. If we talk and listen, maybe an understanding will be reached. Perhaps, we can find a little common ground to give us a place to start and grow.  

My dream would be to sit down and have a heart to heart with our President. Maybe I can speak before congress!? Just little ol’ me – your basic middle-class, tax-paying individual who has a heart and some hope, asking for them to be kind.

So I am asking – can we please stop and listen to each other?

I am pleading with you all to find another way, besides violence and hatred, to affect change and truly make this a great country. Let us start all over and write a new Constitution, a new Declaration of Independence, a new Bill of Rights. The old ones will still be a part of our history, but we need a new one written by all the people, for all the people.  

I will be the first one to volunteer for the committee, and you don’t have to pay me.  Living the rest of my life in a country with love, respect, and equality for all humans, is all I ask.

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On another note, how am I dealing with the stress of current events? Lavender oil – everyone’s favorite and my Essential Oil of the week!

Much Love to all of you! I will keep praying for peace and REAL change,

Sandy