Reflecting on America’s Future this July 4th

With July 4th just around the corner, America is gearing up for a grand celebration—think dazzling fireworks, long processions, and speeches highlighting our nation’s achievements and struggles. It’s a time for festivity, no doubt.

But, honestly, there’s a more crucial question lingering in the air: What legacy are we passing on? What we teach our kids will shape the America of tomorrow as we reach future milestones.

Right now, there’s a real risk of handing them a version of our country that lacks its most distinguishing feature: faith.

Let’s consider a phrase that gets misquoted constantly: the First Amendment doesn’t actually declare that God has no role in American life. Instead, it states that Congress can’t establish a religion or stop anyone from practicing their beliefs. This was set in motion by courageous leaders who often referenced the Bible and prayed at the Constitutional Convention.

It’s worth mentioning that religion wasn’t meant to be eliminated from our national identity. Our founders didn’t envision a society devoid of faith—they aimed to avoid a situation where any one church was imposed by the government because they believed faith was too precious to be politicized.

The Declaration of Independence even mentions God multiple times. It describes our rights as gifts from our Creator. These rights aren’t bestowed by any authority like a king or parliament; they come straight from God, and it’s the government’s role to safeguard them, not grant them.

Somewhere along the way, though, we lost focus.

In recent decades, the idea of “separation of church and state”—a phrase that doesn’t even appear in the Constitution—has been manipulated to systematically extract faith from public life. We’ve taught younger generations that to be patriotic, they must put aside their beliefs, essentially purging any spiritual or prayerful elements from our communal spaces.

The outcome? A generation that feels ashamed of their country and increasingly distant from God.

Reflecting on the past 30 years, I’ve seen many people step away from organizations like the Girl Scouts, which shifted away from a faith-based identity, similar to many other groups. If young women lack a solid understanding of their identity through faith, they face confusion about their role in society. They hear conflicting messages—one urging them to love America unconditionally and another asking them to feel ashamed of it. This chaos is hardly a recipe for clarity.

The essence of true freedom, as the Founding Fathers recognized and the Bible asserts, isn’t something invented by the government. It existed long before any constitution was written or declarations signed. Freedom was woven into the very fabric of creation. America’s brilliance lies not in conjuring freedom but in acknowledging it as a divine gift that the government exists to protect.

This distinction is crucial, especially for the children we are raising.

For America to maintain its identity moving forward, we must show the next generation that being Christian and being American complement one another rather than contradict. A confident girl who knows she’s first a citizen of Heaven and second of this republic embodies what a free nation needs. She won’t rely on the government to dictate what’s true or right. Instead, she can appreciate the complexity and beauty of her country’s history because her foundation isn’t the nation itself, but God, who placed her here.

As we celebrate this July 4th, I look forward to the festivities—my backyard will be buzzing with family, friends, and a mountain of food. I cherish the joy of this season. Yet, after the fireworks fade, the enduring task remains: nurturing children who know the God who grants them freedom and understand that with that freedom comes the obligation to uphold it.

This is how we honor our 250th anniversary, shaping a brighter future for our nation.