242 years later, America has some unfulfilled promises
As we celebrate the 242nd anniversary of the first Independence Day, amidst all the travel, swimming, grilling, parades and fireworks, it’s more important than ever to remember that the war of independence not only gave birth to our nation, it gave us the Declaration of Independence. That document is nothing more than a list of promises our forefathers made to us and we in turn make to each other and our children. I prefer to think of it in those terms, because I know it’s an aspirational document that doesn’t just magically bear fruit. Keeping our nation’s promises has required tremendous sacrifice over the past two and a half centuries. It still does today.
We make all kinds of promises, individually and collectively. Many we don’t keep. We promise to love our spouse until death and be always faithful. We promise ourselves we’ll lose weight and stay sober. We promise our children that we’ll always be there to protect them. As a nation, we promise each other equal protection under the law, and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We promise the world, in big bold letters, that we are the “Mother of Exiles.”
Promises take a moment to make and a lifetime to keep. Broken promises can be worse than lies, encouraging others to hope for something we’re not sure we can give. Or perhaps something we never had any intention of giving in the first place.
If promises are really built upon honesty and trust, perhaps a better definition is required. Because society is full of passive liars; people who rarely lie, but don’t tell the truth. As children, we were taught that if we don’t lie, we’re honest. In fact, honesty requires much more. It requires we speak the whole truth, to whom and when it needs to be spoken, regardless of the consequences. That also means being honest with ourselves — sometimes the most difficult feat of all. It’s a definition that’s required if we ever intend keep our nation’s promises.
We’ve had presidents step up to keep promises in unprecedented ways. Abraham Lincoln stood virtually alone for freedom of the enslaved. Lyndon Johnson stood tall for racial equality, knowing it would end his political career. George W. Bush stood up for the humanity of an entire African continent needlessly dying of AIDS, when few others cared. And those are just a few. Today, we’re led by someone defined by broken promises, who seems to fail every moral test he faces. A man who has broken just about every contract, trade pact, arms agreement, alliance, even vows to three wives. What worries me most is that our current president might be more of a thermometer than a thermostat, more a reflection of our times than he is the cause. Keeping promises is hard work.
To my knowledge, our nation has never expanded liberty and civil rights, only to later take them away. I suspect the Supreme Court drama about to unfold will ultimately reveal if America is still willing to keep her promises. Reproductive freedom, marriage equality, voting rights, and racial and gender equity are all still unfulfilled commitments.
America long ago made audacious promises and today she still offers the greatest promise. Yet, ultimately promises are made and promises are broken. Regardless of how or why, it hurts. What ultimately hurts more than breaking a promise, though, is pretending that we never made it in the first place.
This story was originally published July 3, 2018 at 9:09 AM.