To the Editor,

Happy the nation whose God is the Lord,

The people chosen as his very own.

From Heaven the Lord looks down and observes

the whole human race.  Ps 33:12-13

On July 4th we observe the declaration of independence of a group of thirteen separate colonies from the most powerful empire on the planet.

This had never been done before.

After a war of revolution which had the support of only a third of the population and lasted from April 1775 until September 1783, England sailed away and a new nation was born.

But how do we govern ourselves? The first attempt failed. Then, representatives of all the new states, except Rhode Island, met during a torrid summer in Philadelphia in 1787 and crafted a Constitution as the framework by which the country could be governed. The brilliant document that was adopted was based on Judeo-Christian principles. It deemed that the government would be of, by and for the people, not that the citizens would be subservient to the government as was the case under a monarchy.

It wasn’t until the ninth state, New Hampshire, ratified the document on June 21, 1788 –five years after the war ended- that it became the law of the land. The last state to ratify in 1790 was, of course, Rhode Island.

Some of our currency says “In God We Trust”. Our Pledge of Allegiance acknowledges that we are “under God”. Yet many of us turn our backs on a supreme being and some even deny the very existence of one.

The Declaration of Independence says we are all created equal. But are we? Are certain citizens above the law? Do some elected and appointed officials and judges decide to not enforce the laws with which they disagree? Some liberal scholars claim Jefferson’s words were a call to statehood rather than individual liberty.

The average lifespan of the greatest empires is 250 years. Our country, regarded as perhaps the most powerful in the world, is 247 years from the date we declared our independence. After the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin is believed to have replied to the question, “What have you given us?” with “A republic, if you can keep it”. Are we going to keep it?

The poet Clay Harrison has written, “What we do for God and country defines who we are as a people, as a nation, when viewed from afar”.

At his inaugural address in 1961, President John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you –ask what you can do for your country”. Seems like many of us today have turned that phrase around.

How does the rest of the world see the United States of America today?

Richard August

North Kingstown