“America is great because America is good. Whenever America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”[1]
When the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776, John Adams wrote home to his wife Abigail that it would be a day “celebrated by succeeding generations by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty, and pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore.”
And well we should celebrate it. I am so thankful to God that I live in these United States. I have never lived in another country so I cannot compare, but I am grateful to live here instead of in places desperate for the freedoms we so often take for granted. Why was I fortunate enough to be born here? Celebrating July 4 humbles me. What a tremendous obligation and responsibility we have to our children, to future generations, and to others around the world. We as Americans are in a sense “trustees” of this great heritage of freedom that has been gifted to us.
A GATHERING OF NATIONS AROUND A CENTRAL IDEA
Our founding fathers recognized this responsibility. When the Federal Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft the Constitution, New Yorker Gouverneur Morris addressed the delegates as not only a representative of America, but as a “Representative of the whole human race, for the whole human race will be affected” by the Constitution. As esteemed historian Page Smith writes in his history of the early years of the United States, this country was formed out of certain ideas, ideas about humanity and how people can best live with each other.[2]
Central to our foundational documents were two important ideas. The first idea is at the heart of the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people] are created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
This central idea is that every human being has dignity and worth, an idea that grows directly from the Jewish and Christian teaching that every person is loved unconditionally by God and should be given respect and freedom. This idea is powerful and propelled America to become, as historian Page Smith describes, a “gathering of nations.” Smith notes, “each generation of immigrants brought with them a check drawn on the Declaration of Independence and demanded that it be honored by the descendants of those who had first articulated its unsettling sentiments.”[3]
American history has in one way or another been the struggle to preserve that idea of freedom and dignity for every person, regardless of race, gender, class, or any other distinction. Smith notes that for the first 100 years of the Republic (from 1787 through 1887) there never was a decade when the Union did not seem to many Americans to be in the gravest danger of dissolution. As Martin Luther King, Jr. had so eloquently called for in his “I Have a Dream” speech, through much struggle that same check drawn on the Declaration must be allowed to be cashed by all people regardless of race. And much of the courageous fight through the years was waged by women, those who originally had no voice. As Smith notes, in virtually all of the reform movements throughout our history women were not only among the leaders but often the only leaders: “The United States is the first modern nation in which women have had a central and, in many instances, a decisive role.”[4] What has preserved our nation through the years, and what is the only hope to preserve our nation’s future, is a commitment to this idea that every human being should be treated with respect and dignity.
But how do we preserve this idea, our freedoms? In a word, character. In order to maintain freedom and dignity for others we must possess such character traits as selflessness, love of others, courage, honesty, and, believe or not, humility. Which brings me to the second great idea that is a central theme of our Constitution and one which we so desperately need from our political leaders.
THE SECOND BIG IDEA
In one of the greatest ironies of history, Thomas Jefferson, who penned the Declaration and was our third President, and John Adams, one of the greatest patriots of the Revolution and our second President, both died on the same day, July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although they had reconciled by the time of their deaths, they were opponents throughout their political careers because they had two different perspectives about humans.
For Jefferson, humans were essentially good by nature. Coming from an Enlightenment perspective, Jefferson believed that all that was needed for a country to succeed was more education and enlightenment. Page Smith calls this the “Secular-Democratic” consciousness.
Adams, on the other hand, did not believe humans were innately good, and that if a government did not put checks and balances on its leaders, then greed, pride, and power would destroy the nation. Adams also believed it was incumbent upon a nation’s citizenry and leaders to possess character in order to preserve its freedoms. Smith calls this the “Classical-Christian” consciousness, and is based not only on the idea that every human should be treated with dignity and worth, but also on the idea that humans are essentially flawed by nature and require both controls and redemption.
Adams’ perspective, that humans are flawed, is the second big idea. This idea is embedded all throughout our Constitution, which is a beautifully crafted scheme of checks and balances so that no person, party, or group gains too much power. James Madison, the brilliant drafter of the Constitution, recognized that a government must always be careful to protect those who are not in the majority: “Madison’s exegesis is his view of the extreme precariousness of all political arrangements. While none could be perfect, the best must somehow provide a kind of antidote to human selfishness. This was the Classical-Christian Consciousness stated in classic form.”[5]
CHARACTER MATTERS
Our founding documents have given us these two interconnected great ideas about us: the Declaration rightly exalts the individual, and the Constitution rightly recognizes we are all flawed. What then is our duty as “trustees” of these great gifts we have been given? I think it is for each of us to work on ourselves to develop character traits that will ensure a free country for our children and grandchildren. We should also seriously consider who we are voting for, and elect those leaders who exhibit character and call out those who do not have the character needed to lead.
THE BIG ME IS NOT GOOD
In his brilliant book, The Road to Character, David Brooks notes that since the end of World War II, there has been a great shift from a culture of humility and service to what he calls a culture of “the Big Me,” or a culture that encourages people to see themselves at the center of the universe. Technology has contributed to this in part as communication has become faster, society has become more individualistic and competitive, and social media encourages what Brooks calls a “broadcasting personality.”[6] Winning, self-promotion, “grit,” and tenacity are more important that selflessness, generosity, honesty, and sacrifice.
While each of us must work on ourselves, we also need to seek out political leaders that have those traits of character that have preserved our nation. For both ourselves and our leaders, true character begins, of all places, with humility.
THE HUMILITY CODE
David Brooks concludes his analysis of The Road to Character with a list of 15 propositions to live by which he calls the “Humility Code.” Here are a few (which I quote verbatim):
- When it comes down to it, we don’t really live for happiness, we live for holiness. We don’t just live for pleasure, but for purpose. Life is essentially a moral drama, not a hedonistic one.
- The long road to character begins with an accurate understanding of our nature, and the core of that understanding is that we are flawed creatures.
- In the struggle against our weaknesses, humility is the greatest virtue. Humility reminds you that you are not the center of the universe, but you serve a larger order.
- Pride is the central vice. Pride blinds us to our own weaknesses and misleads us into thinking we are better than we are. Pride makes cold-heartedness and cruelty possible.
- Character is a set of dispositions, desires, and habits that are slowly engraved during the struggle against your own weaknesses. You become more disciplined, considerate, and loving through a thousand small acts of self-control, sharing, service, friendship, and refined enjoyment.
- The things that lead us astray are short term—lust, fear, vanity, gluttony. The things we call character endure over the long term—courage, honesty, humility.
- Everybody needs redemptive assistance from outside—from God, family, friends, ancestors, rules, traditions, institutions, and exemplars.
- We are ultimately saved by grace. When we recognize and admit our weaknesses, grace floods in, gratitude fills the soul, and with it a desire to serve and give back.
- The best leader realizes that he, like the people he leads, is likely to be sometimes selfish, narrow-minded, and self-deceiving. Therefore, he prefers arrangements that are low and steady to those that are lofty and heroic. The wise leader is a steward for his organization and tries to pass it along in slightly better condition than he found it.
This July 4th, go out and celebrate our freedoms! And thank God for freedom and for all those in our history who, through their character, have suffered to preserve that freedom for us.
[1] While this quote is often attributable to Alexis de Tocqueville, there is no evidence he actually said or wrote it. Historians have traced it back to a book published in 1835 by Andrew Reed and James Matheson, British ministers who had visited the United States.
[2] Page Smith, The Shaping of America: A People’s History of the Young Republic (Vol. 3) (New York: Penguin, 1980), xx.
[3] Smith, xxiii.
[4] Smith, xxiv.
[5] Smith, 71.
[6] David Brooks, The Road to Character (New York: Random House, 2015), 251.