Amidst the fireworks, the beer and the cookouts associated with the celebration of the 4th of July Independence holiday, it is common to forget why the founders of the United States declared their independence from Britain.

In simple terms, there was a King of Britain who was uninterested in the welfare of the colonies. After several warning which went unheeded, the founders struck.

In the Declaration of Independence, they began by saying, “When in the course of human events…”

Really!

In the course of human events, a lot of things change; a lot of things become unbearable. It often leads people to take action in order to find happiness.

In the course of human events…

It has not ended. It continues. The course of human events continues.

What has not changed, also, are some truths the founders believed were self evident.

“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.”

Are all men really treated as if they were created equal in today’s America? The gays? The Muslims? The disabled? Do we see all people in America as having that “unalienable rights? What about the illegal immigrants?

Does the government of the United States really derive its powers from the “consent of the governed”? Or is it from the lobbyists and the businesses behind them?

One interesting aspect of the founders’ supplication was to remind the King of Britain of “the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here”? No! Who considers those kinds of things these days? What circumstances?

Happy Independence Day!