Before 1776, settler colonists in North America celebrated the birthday of King George III in July. A patriotic spirit swept across the colonies as the Continental Congress drafted and adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776. That year, the birthday celebrations for the King turned into mock funerals. The first official Fourth of July celebration began in 1777. Festivities in Boston and Philadelphia included bonfires, fireworks, the firing of cannons, and the reading of the Declaration aloud.

“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.”

What will your Fourth of July celebration be like this year? How does it feel to you today to celebrate amid political tensions and after the passage of the domestic policy bill?

The freedom, equality, and liberty of people living in poverty and relying on the support of essential government programs such as Medicaid and Social Security benefits weigh heavily on my mind. Political tension and the passage of policies that challenge long-held values can feel violent. I am thinking today about ways to connect the July 4th celebration with a cultural imagination for peace and collaboration.

I know this is a sensitive topic. Our nation also almost exclusively associates freedom and the Fourth of July with military action and victorious campaigns. But, this cultural practice ritualizes conquest and can inform nationalism. Patriotism involves much more. Patriotism is a feeling of self-identification with one’s country and people, love and pride for one’s nation, a special concern for its well-being, and a willingness to make sacrifices for and contribute to the good of the whole.

In Christian congregations, some will remove the American flag from the church sanctuary to emphasize the distinctive nature of the Christian community. While this is a crucial step, and for some, a radical one, I encourage you to raise thoughtful questions about who or what secures our freedom and move beyond the military/pacifist binary that often frames our understanding.

As we celebrate today, who has helped you define and interpret the meaning of freedom? What are the many ways that our communities work together to provide for our freedom? I think of …

• Neighbors
• Elected officials
• Peacemakers
• Teachers
• First responders
• Healthcare professionals
• Pastors and other religious leaders

There are many more. How can we complicate freedom to increase our cultural imagination for peace and collaboration?

Happy July 4th!

Complicating freedom is a practice introduced in Authentic Christian Freedom: Deconstructing the American Gospel of Liberty (Orbis 2025).