In Our View: Celebrate Freedom

It might mean barbecues. It might mean parades. It might mean baseball or potato salad or family reunions. And, in Clark County, it almost certainly means personal fireworks and/or complaints about them. The Fourth of July can mean different things — or at least different manners of festivities — to different people as Americans celebrate the founding of the United States.

It is the day in which we acknowledge and honor the exceptionalism of this nation, remembering the drive for individual freedom that provided the United States with a unique genesis among nations. Americans didn’t invent democracy nor have they perfected it, but what was started some 238 years ago has long served as a grand experiment and a shining example for the rest of the world.

Yet it was not initially clear that July 4 would be commemorated as the nation’s birthday. During the Revolutionary War, the 13 colonies declared legal separation from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, and the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence two days later.

“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,” read the enduring words of Thomas Jefferson. Yet in some circles, July 2 was regarded as the more important day. “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America,” John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail. “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. … It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

A memorable epoch indeed, even if Adams was off by two days. But perhaps we can blame him — or credit him, depending upon your point of view — for the shockwave-inducing cacophony that accompanies the Fourth of July in these parts. Many citizens see fit to embrace Washington state’s liberal fireworks laws and rattle their neighbors’ windows as a form of celebration. And while we urge consideration for others in the use of incendiary devices, we also acknowledge that such personal expression does, indeed, reflect the meaning behind celebrating the Fourth of July. As noted 20th century preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick said, “Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have.”

It is noteworthy that the Fourth of July, which better than any other holiday reflects the high ideals of the United States, is marked by family gatherings and peaceful pursuits rather than demonstrations of strength or might. While the freedom that we celebrate was hard-earned through courageous acts, the day acknowledges the spoils of the victory rather than the costs of the fight.

The promises made in the Declaration of Independence remain lofty ideals to which we always aspire but frequently fail to grasp, knowing that perfection is an unattainable but worthy goal when it comes to the equality of opportunity that comes with freedom. “Liberty is a breath of life to nations,” author George Bernard Shaw once said. “Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better,” philosopher Albert Camus added.

And so we strive to be better as a nation, acknowledging the country’s founding in a variety of ways — or none at all. The choice is yours, which is entirely the point.