The Declaration of Independence (Reconciliation)

by Rev. Peter L. DeGroote

The Declaration of Independence is also a Declaration of Reconciliation. In declaring independence from the British Empire, we also declared basic principles that have guided us in our lives together. They are remarkably clear:   

1. All people are created equal.
2. Our Creator has given each of us a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that none may justly deny.
3. Government gets its power from the consent of the governed. 

The principles have been a tool to challenge the scoffers, eliminate injustices, and broaden the rights and opportunities of many. The job is not finished. While remnants of past injustice remain, new challenges arise out of the growing diversity around us. Consider the following:

• A single “racial” majority no longer exists. 
• There is a growing number of people from cultures we know very little about among us. 
• We come upon religious beliefs and practices that seem strange, even threatening.
• We have discovered that there are and always were people of different gender identities and orientations among us. 

Many have learned the Declaration’s three principles work for us only if we are willing to let them work for everyone else. When some have rights and others do not, both sides are needlessly confined to a narrow existence. Those whose rights are denied lack the freedom to pursue the promise of their creation. Those who deny the rights of others are confined to enforcement of the system they create. 

Where equality is a basic principle of government, we not only open doors of civic opportunity, we cross a threshold that promises us a deepening spiritual experience. We may not acknowledge it, but if we are to allow universal equality we have to call upon an ancient spiritual principle: Treat others as you want to be treated and don’t treat others in ways you don’t want to be treated. To begin with, that requires compromise simply because I cannot have and do everything my heart desires because there are the desires of all of those other hearts.

A compromise of some of our rights so that others may also have their rights is a basic mechanism of reconciliation, the foundation for all healthy community. Taking it a step further, we are afforded the opportunity to learn the lessons inherent in reconciliation. We can go beyond tolerance of others to honoring their creation, their being, their worth.

Not as easy as it sounds, It is all connected: The basic principles give us the freedom to dream; the dream leads to hope; the hope leads to the work; those three define a promise; taking up the promise defines who we are as a people and as a person.