Independence Day and the “other” American Dream

Last updated on: July 4, 2017 at 6:47 am by Jane the Actuary

Independence Day and the “other” American Dream 2017-07-03T23:10:39-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

DSC_0246b

My son will be applying to college next year, which means that stories of college students protesting America as a vile, unjust place are particularly likely to catch my eye. And at the same time, in the run-up to Independence Day, Jake Tapper is tweeting out photographs of American soldiers submitted by followers. (As it happens, my dad is a vet, though his time in the military was spent happily in Germany, in-between Korea and Vietnam; he was commissioned as a second lieutenant after ROTC in college, used his mechanic’s skills to supervise a vehicle repair depot, and, so far as I can tell, spent his off-hours travelling the country at a time when the salary of a young, single American officer stretched pretty far.)

In the meantime, on Sunday at church we sang the usual patriotic songs, America the Beautiful and The Battle Hymn of the Republic. And, look, maybe I get too emotional, but I got a little weepy at the latter song.

No matter how much historians (and ordinary Americans) argue about whether the Civil War had as its objective freeing the slaves (or, for the South, preserving slavery), or preserving the Union (or, conversely, independence for the South), it is true that for a meaningful portion of the population (and I’m not going to propose percentages), it mattered a great deal that slavery should end. Here are the lyrics, per Wikipedia.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, Glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

And so, too, in the World Wars, and even now in Iraq and Afghanistan. We talk about American soldiers defending our freedom, but it’s really much bigger than that: the American Dream that we celebrate on Independence Day is only partly about political independence from Great Britain. The more important piece is the sacrifice that so many have made in our history for, not our freedom, but the freedom of others.

I mean, sure, there’s the “regular” American Dream of becoming prosperous by dint of hard work, in the model of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. But you don’t get teary-eyed about Thomas Edison.

And slavery is a huge stain on our country. But in the same way as, on someone’s birthday, you don’t contemplate all the times they were really kind of a jerk, and at an anniversary, you don’t dwell on the arguments you’ve had, and at a retirement party, you’d be horrified if the the boss started piling on complaints, so, too, Independence Day is a day to celebrate those ideals, and the people who have worked to put them into practice.

Image: own photograph.

Uncategorized

freedom

Independence Day

Previous Post

July 3, 2017

Are you a dream-hoarder?

Next Post

July 5, 2017 From the library: Dream Hoarders, by Richard V. Reeves

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book has the famous phrase, "For everything there is a season"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ecclesiastes Proverbs Psalms Lamentations