As we in the United States celebrate our declaration of freedom from a king (a bit of an oversimplification given that Great Britain was already a constitutional monarchy with a Parliament in 1776), it is also helpful to reflect on what our freedom is for. True freedom entails using our freedom for each other, seeing ourselves as in this together, living into our interdependence with one another, and cultivating a culture of empathy. 

What a different world it may have been had Columbus used his freedom not to torture, enslave, and kill the human beings he encountered when he landed at what was only a “New World” to him and his shipmates. What a different world it may have been had he returned ro Europe and made the case for peaceful relations with the people, the human beings, they had encountered rather than viewing their lives as expendable and their land as there for the taking.

What a different world it would be if the United States had used its freedom from Great Britain to become free to be truly good to one another rather than continue to enslave human beings and erase indigenous people and steal their land. What a different world it would be had we used our independence to live into our interdependence with the whole human community and the community of all life. What a different world it would be if we had lived into the reality that all persons are created equal the moment we were free from rule by a King.

What a different world it would be if the founders of the United States had taken the words of the Declaration of Independence to heart and in the most inclusive sense to recognize that all persons are created equal instead of racistly designating black persons as three fifths of a person and women as subordinate to men.

What a different world it would be had the United States recognized the equality and interdependence of all people and emancipated enslaved persons without a Civil War costing 620,000 lives.

What a different world it would be if after the Civil War, the United States had fully repented from the sin of racism, embraced the interdependence of the human community, and committed itself to the full inclusion and participation of all persons in the cultural, economic, and political life of the nation rather than depriving black persons of the right to vote and perpetuating inequality though the injustice of Jim Crow laws enforced by a reign of terror and murder by the KKK. 

What a different world it would be if in response to the civil rights movement, the United States had committed itself to equal opportunity, equity, and justice for all rather than allowing greed to lead us to record income inequality and allowing racists to use and abuse the justice system to create an incarceration nation that disproportionally affects persons who are black and brown and poor. 

What a different world it would be if we had recognized the interdependence of our ecological community and had we listened to our climate scientists who told us our use of fossil fuel is ruining a livable climate rather than accepting the disinformation and propaganda of fossil fuel companies whose own scientists told them that continued use of fossil fuels would lead to catastrophic warming of the planet. 

History has shown us the consequences of not recognizing and living fully into the reality of our interdependence, but we can still work for beloved community both in the present and the future. We cannot let our lament over what might have been keep us from engaging the hard work of justice in our times. Rather, we must learn from the lessons history has taught us to make sure our present and future do not continue to rhyme with the worst of the past. 

The founders of the United States expressed imperfectly a vision that was greater than their virtue, and when the United States was finally beginning to live into that vision of all persons being created equal with liberty and justice for all, America’s original sin of racism reared its ugly ahead yet again, and now we are experiencing what is clearly a form of American fascism manifesting itself in the destruction of the social welfare of the most vulnerable among us, rolling back of diversity, equity, and inclusion, lawless abductions, mass deportations, and concentration camps – all in a blatant attempt to make America white again. 

Our interdependence, however,  is a reality that cannot be ignored, and fascism in the United States will not have the last word, but we must not lose our humanity or our compassion as we work to defeat it. Theologian Thomas Merton reminds us, “Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things” (Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, p. 1). Love never rejoices in or mocks the suffering of others. 

The ironic thing about fascists, who by their very nature refuse to learn from history and want to keep others from being exposed to real history, is that the history they suppress shows us what eventually happens to fascists and fascist countries. The hell they are currently creating for others will eventually become hell for them as well, a hell that could have been avoided through education, empathy, equity, and justice – the very things they revel in destroying. And it is a hell that we can all escape if we make the sacrifice that is necessary to fulfill the vision that all persons are created equal in the beloved community of all creation. And when we do, we can celebrate our Interdependence Day with one another. What a different world it could be! 

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