Some thoughts that international friends provoked in me on Independence Day

Today I am not in Rome, but in beautiful Bellflower California. An afternoon sea breeze is wiping the air clean. And it is Independence Day.

A friend of mine from Africa sent me good wishes, and added that he hoped that in America today that God would not be sidelined. He must be reading about our culture wars.

My reflection is that the founding fathers of the Republic were all Deists. They had God-language, but they sidelined God in all actuality (Thomas Jefferson was notoriously anti-Christian, and John Adams became increasingly anti-clerical after his presidency). They were men of the Enlightenment and read the French Philosophers. On the positive side, they founded a country where no religious test could be enacted to prohibit citizens from voting or taking office. Thomas Jefferson wanted a wall of separation between Church and State, but that is not actually what the Constitution ever said. Still, most Americans today favor that wall of separation.

According to recent studies (Baylor University 2007), religious practice in the USA is greater at the start of the 21st century than it has ever been in our history. Most people perceive that Americans were more religious in earlier times, but the opposite seems to be the case. What bothers me is that many people look to the government for religious leadership, and then they denounce the civic leaders when they don't see religious practice as they would like. But we live in a pluralistic country, and after 238 years, American democracy is still in the experimental phase. It takes a long time to learn how to be truly free (and for Christians, to be truly faith-filled and faithful) in a pluralistic society. We do well not to give up now.

Having said this, I must admit that I'm not thinking of the great edicts of the political entities nor of the high sentiments of the statesmen today. Instead, I'm listening to the voices of children screaming in delight as the residents on our street host a block party among the neighbors. Becoming good neighbors is a great way to learn pluralism and democracy I suppose.