Happy Birthday, America

The 249th birthday of America finds winds of blessing blowing at our backs.

The document adopted on July 4, 1776 is a Declaration of Independence from tyranny. It was created by people who wanted a nation where they could worship God openly, freely, and without government hindrance.

And the flames of religious freedom are burning brightly in America in 2025.

I recently attended the first briefing of the Religious Liberty Commission which President Trump recently established. Experts made presentations on the nature and history of religious freedom, and on the Supreme Court cases that have recently strengthened it.

The other day I connected again with Coach Joe Kennedy, whose Supreme Court case victory in 2022 reversed the so-called “Lemon test,” which burdened religious expression in America for decades. Thanks to the coach’s courage to pray in public despite risk to his job, he strengthened that right for every American.

And earlier this week I joined thousands of other religious leaders on the inaugural Faith Office National Conference Call, where we were joined by President Trump who spent substantial time with us despite the fact that he was leading 11th-hour negotiations with Senators to pass the Big Beautiful Bill.

And all this is just a fraction of what has been happening to strengthen religious freedom in America.

Our Independence Day celebration this year should thank God for all of this, and celebrate it with a deep awareness of the significance of this moment.

Our Founders wanted neither religion without freedom (that is, state-imposed orthodoxy and state-mandated denominations), nor freedom without religion (that is, the ‘naked public square’ pretending to be able to govern itself without the indispensable supports of religion and morality).

Rather, they wanted a nation where the importance of religion was recognized, and where the citizens would practice and proclaim it freely.

And that is the other critical piece of the puzzle. To have founding documents that declare freedom is not enough. It isn’t even enough to have Presidential Administrations and Supreme Courts confirming and emphasizing that freedom.

Along with all that we need citizens courageously exercising that freedom. We cannot afford self-censorship, the muzzle of cowardice, or religious leaders who, out of fear of conflict, dampen the fervor of their congregations rather than stir it into flame. As we celebrate our 249th birthday as a nation, and prepare for the 250th, the door is open wider than ever in America for religious freedom. Now let us open our minds and hearts wider than ever to proclaim that faith publicly, and practice it faithfully and fearlessly, in every aspect of our lives, both private and public.

Happy birthday, America! Thank you for the gift of religious liberty.

Image from Shutterstock.