Happy Birthday, U. S.!

Happy 4th of July!! We get together every year to celebrate the anniversary of our country's independence, and this is a great day. A holiday is always a nice break! But, to enjoy good times with family and friends and celebrate what it means to be an American is something special. Happy Birthday, United States!

If you're like me, it's been a while since you read the Declaration of Independence which was written and signed on or around this date two hundred and thirty years ago. It is an impressive document which reveals so much of who we have been, are, and should be as a united people. Let there be no doubt of the firm foundation of faith on which the United States of America has been based. Here are some excerpts of the Declaration:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America … solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown … And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor"

Our Founding Fathers believed firmly that GOD GIVES EVERY AMERICAN THE RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS? Do we share the Founders' faith and live it? Do we defend the rights of all of the young, the elderly, the immigrants, the unborn, the handicapped, and the poor as being God-given rights? Also, do we firmly rely on the protection of Divine Providence on our great land?

In the United States, has faith increased or decreased since July 4, 1776?