In Nantucket, there is an interesting conflict between churches after the Nantucket Unitarian Universalists (NUU) canceled its traditional celebration. In a letter from the church and the Rev. Erin Splaine of the Second Congregational Meeting House Society, residents were told the traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence would be canceled to better focus on the “on-going process within the congregation to better understand our own whiteness.”
Across the country, July 4th celebrations are being canceled, and protests are planned for the nation’s 250th anniversary. MS NOW anchor Ali Velshi declared this week, “I feel a deep unease about the celebrations to which I am invited to mark the 250th anniversary of our so-called democracy.” The comment mirrors a recent poll showing that 85% of Democrats describe the U.S. in negative terms, and only 10% said they view it positively.
For 25 years, the historic Nantucket Unitarian Meeting House has hosted a public reading of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
The letter announcing the cancellation from Splaine and the NUU Nantucket church is full of the usual virtue-signaling jingoism that has become common on the left:
“Our cancelling the 4th of July celebration this year reflects … an on-going process within the congregation to better understand our own whiteness.
…For those of us who are white the experience of the Rights and Privileges conferred by the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the United States have, for centuries, been tragically, often violently, and unequally applied to fellow citizens who are not white.”
This type of pandering and posturing has become the norm today. In a time when the American flag is denounced as a divisive and “triggering” symbol, a refusal to celebrate our Independence is yet another way of proving one’s bona fides to the perpetually enraged.
Splaine and the church stressed that she would not “engage” with critics on social media because “Social media is not the place for important, tender conversations.”
For some of us who believe that the Declaration of Independence embodies natural rights that ultimately prevailed in a more perfect union, the letter is maddening.
As I discuss in Rage and the Republic, the continuation of slavery was recognized at the time as a fundamental betrayal of those values. However, we created a system that would ultimately reject slavery and then later segregation. It was indeed a stain on our history and a sin of our founders to continue slavery. Yet, despite those imperfections, we rallied behind the founding values that define us as a people.
Thomas Paine, who (like other founding figures) was vehemently against slavery, still celebrated the founding of a new nation and a new people: “We have it in our power to begin the world over again . . . The birth-day of a new world is at hand.”
John Adams represented Massachusetts, including Nantucket, at the Continental Congress and fought to end slavery, but still understood that they had created a country based on freedoms that would ultimately prevail for everyone. He wrote his wife Abigail to predict that Independence Day would be:
“celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”
Rather than Adams, Massachusetts now has figures like Rev. Splaine who focus not on the natural rights that bind us to those ongoing conflicts that divide us. This is a holiday that allows us to take one day of the year to celebrate our shared values. In an age of rage, it is a respite from the anger and hate that consumes so many in this country.
Yet, there remain some in Massachusetts who still understand what Adams was describing 250 years ago. Another church has stepped forward to take up the celebration. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church announced it would read the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. St. Paul’s Rev. Max Wolf declared, “We may not be there yet but we felt it was important to gather together and try to live up to the promises our country has made. Those documents are aspirational.”
Amen, Reverend, Amen.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Guess they are second-guessing God! If we are created differently, perhaps that is the message. We are different but yet all created by the Divine. Do we know better? Think not. So what this church is doing is actually what they should not. Celebrate the differences and invite everyone to the table. I applaud the Episcopal Church for understanding that the best we can do it try harder to be better and this comes with inclusion. As to the Declaration of Independence — think about it. This document supports our growth and is our opportunity to prove that we can do better than most of the nations of the world. There is no perfection — only the will to be better, to live lawfully, to live with a moral compass. That is through knowledge of what we have been, what we are today and where we can go with knowledge and understanding can do for a better future. It’s a worthy goal!
As to slavery — read Thomas Sowell. Slavery has gone on for thousands of years — of all races and religions. It is wrong and that is acknowledged by what this country has tried to correct by law. Now it is up to ‘we the people’ to aspire higher. There are many types of slavery — slavery of the mind as well. Remember the book – “Free to Be, You and Me”. That is the goal and that means everyone. Staying separate is a safe zone for many – integrating is hard because one has to put aside ‘self’ and innate jealousies (common to all people). When we go beyond our comfort level we grow. Cancelling the reading of the Declaration of Independence is as narrow as you can get — their ‘self hate’ is gratuitous and condescending. Best the members of this Church live on an island. That is where they belong!
The best anyone can say about the Declaration of Independence and the slogan “All men are created equal” is that it was calculated political spin.
It was clearly understood that if Slave colonies insisted on establishing Slavery permanently, that would empower the UK to divide the opposing American sides. If the anti-Slavery side insisted on banning it, the same thing would happen. No enslaved people nor any Americans would gain independence. The 1772 Somerset Decision had already created the precedent for denying legal enforcement of slavery by declaring that it held no place in the Common Law, which was obligatorily enforced in the courts of every American colony. .
The Founders were very wise to not antagonize London, and to acquiesce to the the Mexican Standoff dilemma at hand. There would be no American unity or independence until and unless the country developed a compromise temporary union based on respect for blatantly contradictory provincial notions regarding “the rights of man”.
Thomas Jefferson needed no fear of much Lincoln’s later proclamation that Democracy required Equality, which was the inevitable Stage 2 of the same Mexican Standoff.
It seems safe to assume that many enslaved people would have preferred for the UK simply abolish slavery sooner rather than spend a century in agony.
What these pompous self-righteous foolish people don’t get is that as adults we often cannot do “the right thing” but only the “best we can” and then keep iterating until we CAN do the right thing. We are hardly that more perfect union, but if we remain faithful to our founding principles, we will asymptotically approach it.
Unitarians acting kooky is not even a man-bites-dog story. It’s a dog licks himself story. I try to ignore both.
STUPID !!!
Out current president is a widely hated buffoon who’s suspiciously tight with Vladimir Putin. So of course no one feels good about this 250th. How could we??
Yes, I agree, you are a Buffoon.
Stop with the debunked Russia collusion nonsense. Go be anti-American somewhere else.
We are proud of the 250th. God bless America.
Yeah, ‘we’ being stupid southern rednecks. Only ‘you’ are ‘proud’ on this 250th.
Anonymous says that Trump is tight with Putin but just a few short days ago she said she was brushing up on her Russian.
That must have been one of her other personalities. Does she ever ask herself if her obsession with Trump might be mentally unhealthy or is it to late for that? I know, silly question.
Anti-Americanism is not new to this country. Previously, it called itself communism. What is new is 1) the prevalence across a broad swath of the Democratic Party AND 2) the new tone of the anti-Americanism, i.e., the use of guilt to precipitate self -humiliation. It is not an anti-female or anti-gay comment to note that Lesbians play a major role in this change of tone.
Morgan Freeman had the best solution to end racism: “Just don’t talk about it!”
I am a Person of Peach (PoP), thank you very much.
Albinophobes are celebrated with pride in parades.
And what of People of White (PoWs)?
Bah haha!!! Gotta love the Loony Tunes and their White Guilt! Their ancestors would slap them senseless if they came back and met up with this bunch! But hey – the Wokies have now gone Whacky! This is close to the scene where Desantis dropped off the OTM’s (Other Than Mexicans) at Martha’s Vineyard and the White Guilt crowd wanted them Off The Island Pronto, right? Haha. These fake pieces of Elitist Garbage always talk a game they want to shove on others but follow the path of the hypocrite! Enjoy your Shaker Syndrome July 4th you Nut Cases.
“. . . our own whiteness.”
The problem with crying “Nazis,” is that when they actually appear, nobody listens.
Defining an individual by his race, then meting out rewards or punishments based on that race — those are two key premises of Nazism.
The problem with crying “Nazis,” is that when they actually appear, nobody listens
The people crying Nazis are the Nazis themselves, like Graham Planter (sheesh, talk about toxic masculinity!). Maybe that’s the plan – to get nobody to listen.
As a non-white person myself, I find this self-flagellation to appease the DEI gods in grandiose virtue signaling fashion absurd.
Is our country perfect? Of course not. Teach all of history. The good, the bad and the ugly parts. Point out accomplishments and failures. The people involved.
Sure. The founders were white men.
However, anyone with a degree of common sense can read the Constitution today and know it applies to ALL people. It does not have to be spelled out every race, gender of which there are only two, sexual orientation, or even a furry be mentioned.
Are people seriously considering having protests against America’s 250th celebration?
You have summed it up perfectly.
Here are the ways Trump is shitting on American values:
Attempted coup.
Getting comedians he does not like take off the air.
Getting journalists he does not like fired.
Firing women and black flag officers and removing women and blacks from promotion lists.
Violating the spending clause in the Constitution.
Launching an illegal war.
Stoping and arresting people based on skin color.
Concentration camps.
All of which Turrley and MAGAs support.
Sally, do you just read headlines on propaganda? How else could you reach such absurd conclusions?
Name one that is wrong.
No, the work is on you. You made some serious allegations. It’s on you to cite the evidence that proves them true. Short of that, all you’ve provided is proof that you lack the capacity for discernment.
I take your inability to name one that is false to mean that all or correct (which they are anyhow),
It was not a coup. It was a protest that turned into a riot. Recent evidence and testimony suggests Democrats were responsible. What was with the 274 undercover FBI agents in the crowd?
Colbert got himself fired for costing/loosing millions per year for CBS.
Trump did not fire anyone. Bari Weiss needs to clean house at CBS for obvious reasons.
He brought back meritocracy and got rid of DEI.
Preventing Iran from getting the bomb is not a bad thing.
ICE is enforcing immigration laws as deemed by Congress.
Those are detention camps to process illegal immigrants before lawful deportation.
Yes, any sane and normal person would support such values as deporting criminal and violent illegals, making America safe again. Even Bill Clinton admitted had Laken Riley’s killer been properly vetted she would likely be alive today.
You are using the straw man fallacy (badly). I never mentioned J6, Weiss, Iran, ICE, or immigration.
You are also demonstrating the MAGA mindset that “If I like the policy, it does not matter if it is illegal”.
No. I just pointed out where you were wrong. Or more likely, uninformed/misinformed. That is obvious.
Show us where anything I said was illegal.
Liberal white women: the destroyers of civilizations.
“Erin! You got some Splainin to do!” Sorry I couldn’t resist! 😎that said, if I recall correctly that particular cult does not accept Jesus as their Savior. They will all answer to Him in due time.
The once great British Empire, then white and not diminished, ended slavery in many places. Whites in this country fought other whites to end slavery decades later. Slavery still exists throughout the world as it has always existed, but not in white countries (though it could return as whites are now self-destructing). Signaling out America for it is just political nonsense (as if virtually everything claimed by the left).
Why are we speaking to whiteness. The declaration was intended to emancipate us from England. We wrote down the reasons why and listed them. Among the natural rights listed was surely autonomy but we are addressing political autonomy which was a precondition to address domestic issues that were problematic such as slavery. So let’s get our dates straight. The fourth of July is our independence from England. It’s not about our whiteness. If you wish to discuss this issue then fine, review Dred Scott and Brown, 13 th and 14th amendments. What we are celebrating is our ability to say no to tyranny, and this is not to support the Democratic party, but in the interest of tolerance, we can and should include them the celebration. they do, after all, represent autonomy. Credit where it’s due.