How can we as Americans declare this coming holiday as Independence Day? Do we declare such simply based off what our founding father's fought and died for? Was it merely to defeat the British?
I say, NO!
Our founding fathers fought for a much greater principle than the defeat of the British. They fought for natural law as founded in the US Declaration of Independence. Take a read from the very first paragraph of this beautiful document.
"The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, 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."
The two laws noted are not that of man's law but specifically articulated as the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God. This is not religiously institutionalized but rather generalized and interpreted as Natural Law. Law that every man has the right to maintain and uphold without interference.
Today, we have a government that has been continuously corrupted since 1776. It is a government of tyrants continuously implementing economically induced man's law which in turn constantly takes from "The People."
Think about who our founding father's fought against and why--The tyrannical monarch of Great Britain. Now, think of where we are today simply based off some tax codes from the past to those implemented today.
"America was tax-free for much of its early history. That is, free of direct taxation like income tax. It was, after all, taxes that led Americans to revolt against the British in 1773. Following the revolutionary war, the new American government was understandably cautious when it came to taxation – direct taxation was prevented by the constitution for all practical purposes. Therefore, government revenues had to be collected through tariffs and duties on certain items. These excise taxes on liquor, tobacco, sugar, legal documents and so on, betrayed a social agenda as well as a revenue-gathering attempt."--Investopedia
We, "The People," are not independent. In fact, we as a society have become more and more dependent of our government than our own government being dependent on us--The People.
This is not what our founding father's wished. In fact, the America we live in today is complete opposite of what our founding fathers envisioned.
You may say Happy Independence Day but truth is, we the people are no longer independent.
We as Americans, as apolitical as can be stated, are more dependent today then we have ever been.
I am prone to point out arguably the greatest lines written in our Declaration in which I hope all Americans understand and fully grasp.
"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. — 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 to 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."
No, it's NOT Happy Independence Day but rather Happy 4th of July.
When we are truly Independent, maybe then should we celebrate the holiday appropriately.