HINDU REFLECTIONS ON JULY 4 AS
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY
[Compilation for a Discourse
from E-Mails sent and Authors by N.R. Srinivasan, July 4, 2021]
There’s no doubt the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of
Independence in July 1776. Officially, the Continental Congress
declared its freedom from Great Britain on July 2, 1776. John Adams thought
July 2 would be marked as a national holiday for generations to
come. Congress approved the actual Declaration of Independence
document on July 4, and the approved version was signed in Philadelphia. Most
of the members of the Continental Congress signed a version of the Declaration
on August 2, 1776, in Philadelphia. The late historian Pauline Maier
said in her 1997 book, Americans finally remembered the event on July 3, 1777,
and July 4 became the day that seemed to make sense for celebrating
independence. Its anniversary day weren’t widely celebrated until the
Federalists faded away from the political scene after 1812. In an 1826 letter –
the last he ever wrote -- Thomas Jefferson spoke of the importance of
Independence Day. Jefferson and Adams both passed away two days later, on the
Fourth of July. American History is thus very complicated and the
definition of Independence is complicated.
Being a first generation Hindu migrant, my thoughts go back to Indian Independence Day and following events I lived through. Independence Day of India was a bloody birthday gift on August 15, 1947 to newborn India and Pakistan as millions of people were uprooted amid massacres and murder. My grand-uncle was the first and last Governor General of Divided Independent India. Horror followed everywhere: refugee camps everywhere and, eventually, war with Pakistan over Kashmir, an enmity, potent as nuclear bombs, that lasts to this day. Five months after independence, the idealism of the struggle for freedom was shattered when a Hindu fanatic assassinated the movement's secular saint, Mohandas Gandhi. In an effort to end India’s religious strife, Mahatma Gandhi resorted to hunger strike, fast unto death seeking Hindu Muslim unity condition, leaned with more concession to Muslim minority that were more brutal. A fanatic Hindu who objected to Gandhi’s tolerance for the Muslims, fatally shot him on a Friday prayer meeting and he gave up his ghost crying Hey Ram! Known as Mahatma, or “the great soul,” during his lifetime. Gandhi’s persuasive methods of civil disobedience influenced leaders of civil rights movements around the world, especially Martin Luther King, Jr. in the United States. Entering my college in this horrible year, I celebrated my 1948 Independence Day in the college and in the evening rushed to the temple praying to the Supreme to save the souls of millions that gave up their lives and to bemoan for a country that got into pieces instead of Peace, chanting the all-round Shanti mantra “viswe santih sarve santih santireva santih”. To me, therefore, July 4 is more a Religious Freedom Day and All Freedom Day, observing some similar struggles in USA in the past and even today, than a mere Political Independence Day, a fancied and arbitrarily fixed Independence Day in the spirit of “sanghacchadvam samvadadvam samanamakootih“ with the hope of seeing the ever-shining bright light at the end of dark tunnel, for which we are still struggling.
How do Native Americans observe the 4th of July? This year, many people’s plans reflect their concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. But the answer has always been as complicated as America’s history.
Perhaps the most quoted language in the Declaration of Independence is the statement that all men are created equal. Many Native Americans, however, also remember the signers’ final grievance against the king: “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”
With the emergence of a nation interested in expanding its territory came the issue of what to do with American Indians, who were already living all across the land. As the American non-Indian population increased, the Indigenous population greatly decreased, along with tribal homelands and cultural freedoms. From the beginning, U.S. government policy contributed to the loss of culture and land.
Keeping
our focus on the 4th of July, let’s take back our thoughts to 1880s, when the
U.S. government developed what has come to be called the Religious Crimes
Code—regulations at the heart of the federal Office of Indian Affairs’ Code of
Indian Offenses that prohibited American
Indian ceremonial life. Enforced on reservations, the code banned Indian
dances and feasts, disrupted religious practices, and destroyed or confiscated
sacred objects, under threat of imprisonment and the withholding of treaty
rations. The Secretary of the Interior issued the regulations in 1884, 1894,
and 1904, and Indian superintendents and agents implemented them until the
mid-1930s. For 50 years, Indian spiritual ceremonies were held in secret or
ceased to exist.
In
response to this policy of cultural and
religious suppression, some tribes saw in the 4th of July and the
commemoration of American Independence a chance to continue their own important
ceremonies. Indian superintendents and agents justified allowing reservations
to conduct ceremonies on the 4th as a way for Indians to learn patriotism to
the United States and to celebrate the country's ideals.
That
history is why a disproportionate number of American Indian tribal gatherings
take place on or near the 4th of July and are often the social highlights of
the year. Over time these cultural ceremonies became tribal homecomings.
American Indian veterans in particular were welcomed home as modern-day
followers of warrior traditions. The Navajo Tribe of Arizona and Pawnee of
Oklahoma are two examples of tribes that use the 4th of July to honor their tribal veterans. Tribal veterans’ songs
and flag songs are sung. Before the Reservation Era, when most Indians saw the
American flag coming toward their villages and camps, it symbolized conflict,
death, and destruction. But more than 12,000 American Indians served during
World War I, and after the war, the American flag began to be given a prominent
position at American Indian gatherings by them, especially those held on the
4th of July. This symbol of patriotism and national unity is carried into powwow
and rodeo arenas today.
Everything
is different this year, with families following public health guidance to
reduce the transmission of Covid-19. But traditionally, the Lumbee of North
Carolina and Mattaponi of Virginia use the 4th of July as a time for tribal
members to renew cultural and family ties. The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma holds
Gourd Clan ceremonies, because the holiday coincides with their Sun Dance, which once took place during
the hottest part of the year. The Lakota of South Dakota and Cheyenne of
Oklahoma have some of their annual Sun Dances on the weekends closest to the
4th of July to coincide with the celebration of their New Year. Another summer soon, tribes will resume holding ceremonies, as
well as powwows, rodeos, homecomings, and other modern get-togethers, around Independence
Day openly. And Native American families will set out on visits back to
their reservations and home communities.
By an extraordinary coincidence, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams,
the only two signatories of the Declaration of Independence later to serve
as presidents of the United States, both died on the same day: July 4,
1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a
signatory of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe,
another Founding Father who was elected as president, also died on
July 4, 1831, making him the third President who died on the anniversary of
independence. Can July 4 be a memorial day to pay homage to these past
Presidents?
To Hindu Americans, July 4 becomes Pitru’s Honoring Day of
ancestors, praying for the souls of all those that lost their lives or lived
fighting for all kinds of Freedom to improve quality of life, including
Jefferson and Adams who also died on this day. This is also the day for paying
their obeisance to Swami Vivekananda, also died on July 4, who is the father of
Neo-Vedanta to the World, bringing together the Indian Spiritual Strength and
Western Material Strength, all at the altar of their choice deity. Thanks to
the tireless service of their urban monks, USA is turning to be a Land of Yoga,
Meditation and Spirituality with the rapidly increasing religious freedom
movements like SBNR and ‘Awesome without Allah’.
Faith inspires hope. Deeply embedded in the heart and soul of our Nation, this transcendent truth has compelled men and women of uncompromising conscience to give glory to God by worshiping both openly and privately, lifting up themselves and others in prayer. On Religious Freedom Day like July 4, we pledge to always protect and cherish this fundamental human right.
When the Pilgrim Fathers first crossed the Atlantic Ocean more than 400 years ago in pursuit of religious freedom, their dedication to this first freedom shaped the character and purpose of our Nation. Later, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, their deep desire to practice their religion unfettered from government intrusion was realized. Since then, the United States has set an example for the world in permitting believers to live out their faith in freedom. Did they get influenced by Gita in shaping the religious freedom then and even today as the country turns progressively to be a country of Yoga, Meditation and Spirituality?
John F Kennedy in his Speech before the Christian Forum said: “I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end; where all men and all churches are treated as equal; where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice (he means any house of worship); where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind; and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.
This is the kind of America I believe in, and this is the kind I
fought for in the South Pacific, and the kind my brother died for in Europe. No
one suggested then that we may have a "divided loyalty," that we did
"not believe in liberty," or that we belonged to a disloyal group
that threatened the "freedoms for which our forefathers died.
And in fact, this is the kind of America for which our forefathers died, when they fled here to escape religious test oaths that denied office to members of less favored churches; when they fought for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom; and when they fought at the shrine I visited today, the Alamo. For side by side with Bowie and Crockett died Mc Cafferty and Bailey and Carey. But no one knows whether they were Catholic or not, for there was no religious test at the Alamo”
Stoll finds four distinct passages in the Declaration of Independence that refer to God: In addition to the “endowed by their Creator” line mentioned by JFK in his July 4 speech, there is an opening salute to “the laws of nature’s God,” an appeal to “the Supreme Judge of the World,” and a closing expression of “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.”
Was Kennedy influenced in his thoughts on religion by Swami Vivekananda who in his speech to the World Forum of Religions boldly declared “Vedanta is the Religion of the Future” to come up with his four distinct ideas, that looks more based on Vedanta and not Christianity? Vivekananda gave up his ghost on this very day. Celebration of his death anniversary is as important as his Birth Day in January, for the soul never dies and Jayanti Day in Hindu concept is the Glory Celebration Day of Icons held in respect.
Gita says that the world needs different religions, cults and deities to meet the vastly different needs if individuals. Gita Doctrine is beyond Religious and national Boundaries and should lead one to tranquility, happiness and equanimity that mostly reflects in the recent Declarations of the President of the United States.
We have also protected healthcare providers’ rights not to be forced to perform procedures that violate their most deeply-held convictions. Additionally, we have ended the misguided policies of denying access to educational funding to historically black colleges and universities because of their religious character and of denying loan forgiveness to those who perform public services at religious organizations. Throughout this difficult year, we have continued these efforts, cutting red tape to ensure houses of worship and other faith-based organizations could receive Paycheck Protection Program loans on the same grounds and with the same parameters as any other entity. We have also aggressively defended faith communities against overreach by State and local governments that have tried to shut down communal worship. Together, we have honored the sanctity of every life, protected the rights of Americans to follow their conscience, and preserved the historical tradition of religious freedom in our country.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day
of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth”--DONALD
J. TRUMP
Religious freedom in America, often referred to as our “first freedom,” was a driving force behind some of the earliest defining moments of our American identity. The desire for religious freedom impelled the Pilgrims to leave their homes in Europe and journey to a distant land, and it is the reason so many others seeking to live out their faith or change their faith have made America their home.
More than 230 years ago, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which was authored and championed by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson famously expounded that “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities.” This statute served as the catalyst for the First Amendment, which enshrined in law our conviction to prevent government interference in religion. More than 200 years later, thanks to the power of that Amendment, America is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world.
In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint, and his birthday is celebrated as National Youth Day.
While enjoying others in celebrating this day as a social
political event devoid of any sectarian religious thought but belief in God
Each Trusts, let us pay our tribute to Swami Vivekananda on July 4 and pay
our homage at the altar of our chosen deity for the champion of Hindu Dharma
and its propagation globally, making it a SRE Day!
Only a life lived for others is a life
worthwhile. Life is not a solitary activity. We should live well
by living for others. For having a different vision, sometimes we need to stand
alone. Standing alone with no one is better than standing in a crowd with
everyone where the crowd goes to the wrong direction.
Present Pandemonium and the successful management of the crisis by
physical therapy ably supported by EQ and SQ Management has led me to think Human health has
multiple sources: material, social, cultural and spiritual. We are physical
beings with material needs for nutritious food, clean air and water, and
adequate shelter, as well as physical activity and sleep. We are also social
beings who need families, friends and communities to flourish. We are cultural
beings — of all species, we alone require cultures to make life worth living.
And we are spiritual beings, psychically connected to our world and beyond. People can find meaning in life at a variety of levels. Close to
their personal lives, there are things like jobs, family, friends, interests
and desires. Many people today find meaning in the pursuit of personal goals.
There is also the level of identity with a nation or ethnic group, and with a
community but to live in peace but not pieces.
At the most fundamental, transcendent level, there is spiritual meaning.
Spirituality represents the broadest and deepest form of connectedness. It is
the most subtle, and therefore easily corrupted, yet perhaps also the most
powerful. It is the only form of meaning that transcends people’s personal
circumstances, social situation and the material world, and so can sustain them
through the trouble and strife of mortal existence. That is why we run to the
temple to pay our homage to Swami Vivekananda on July 4, the day he gave up his
ghost, while spreading his message up to his last breath on that day ”Vedanta
is the only Religion and Hope for Humanity ”
Religion serves humanity best when it embodies and expresses the spiritual as purely as possible, with only a limited influence of institutional and political agendas. Modern Western culture, with its emphasis on personal consumption and self-gratification, betrays this ideal — at considerable cost to health and wellbeing. The restoration of a stronger spiritual dimension to life will be important in turning around this situation.
This concept is beautifully
summed up in the concluding prayer of Hindu worship but that needs to be
brought to practical life guided by the missionary work of Vivekananda by
Spirituality and Citizenship that Phil Goldberg talks about. Here "Discovering the contemporary relevance of Hindu Dharma" currently focused on to educate
modern youth by the Hindu University Makes sense.
Om Dyauh Shaantir-Antarikssam Shaantih
Prthivii Shaantir-Aapah Shaantir-Ossadhayah
Shaantih Vanaspatayah Shaantir-Vishvedevaah Shaantir-Brahma Shaantih Sarvam Shaantih Shaantir-Eva Shaantih Saa Maa Shaantir-Edhi |Om Shaantih
Shaantih Shaantih ||
May peace radiate there in the whole sky as well as in the vast ethereal space everywhere! May peace reign all over this earth, in water and in all herbs, trees and creepers! May peace flow over the whole universe! May peace be in the Supreme Being Brahman! And May there always exist in all peace and peace alone! Aum peace, peace and peace to us and all beings!
No peace
invocation concludes without thrice repeating or invoking Saanti. The three
repetitions are-- it is explained by Aachaaryas like Sankara, Raamaanuja,
Madhwa--addressed to the three groups in which all the probable obstacles in
the study of the scripture can be classified. They are: Aadhidaivikam (cosmic disturbances); Aadhi-bhoutikam (environmental disturbances); Aadhyaatmikam (inner disturbances). The first type of disturbance
is from the phenomenal powers like lightning, thunder, rain, earthquake etc.
Hence the first Santi is chanted loudly. The second type is the environmental
disturbance like noise around, animals growling, insects crawling etc. The
second chant is softer than the first to indicate that it is directed to the
environmental disturbances. The third type is disturbance springing from one’s
own body like sickness, worry etc. The last chant is therefore in whispers
directed to the inner disturbances.
Here we should be serious over the noble ideals of American
Independence Day Declaration about Religious Freedom with the mottos “e pluribus Unum” and “In God We Trust” that I explained in detail in my discourse on “Satyameva Jayate”. Secularism does not
mean atheism of Communists but Citizenship guided by Dharma and Human Values
that are revealed in Vedic Wisdom that is the essence of Spirituality.
E Pluribus Unum–Out of
Many, One-- approved by John Adams, Benjamin and Thomas Jefferson as the
motto for the new United States in 1776, during the same year as the
Declaration was signed, this Latin phrase reflected a determination to assemble
a single unified nation from a collection of states. The challenge of
seeking unity while representing diversity has played a critical role in
shaping our history, our education and our national character. This motto
appearing on the coin has served as a reminder of America’s bold attempt to One Unified Nation from different backgrounds
and beliefs. In recent weeks, we
have been reminded of the challenges to realizing the ideal of unity in a country
of people from different backgrounds and beliefs, especially in the face of
powerful forces working to tear it apart. But E Pluribus Unum expresses
more than an ideal. It reflects an essential truth about both nature and
human society – that we are stronger and more resilient together, embracing all
of our diversity, than we are apart.
APPENDIX
The Theology of the Fourth
of July
BY IRA
STOLL
JULY 3, 2014 12:01 AM EDT
July 4 is a
religious holiday. For this insight, thank John F. Kennedy.
On July 4,
1946, Kennedy — then 29 years old, the Democratic nominee for a Massachusetts
Congressional seat, and still a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve — was the
featured speaker at the City of Boston’s Independence Day celebration. He spoke
at Faneuil Hall, the red-brick building where long ago the colonists had
gathered to protest taxes imposed by King George III and his Parliament.
Kennedy began
by talking not about taxes, or about the British, or about the consent of the
governed, but about religion. “The informing spirit of the American character
has always been a deep religious sense. Throughout the years, down to the
present, a devotion to fundamental religious principles has characterized
American though and action,” he said.
For anyone
wondering what this had to do with Independence Day, Kennedy made the
connection explicit. “Our government was founded on the essential religious
idea of integrity of the individual. It was this religious sense which inspired
the authors of the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be
self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights.’”
It was a
theme that Kennedy would return to during the 1960 presidential campaign, when,
in a speech at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, he described the Cold
War as “a struggle for supremacy between two conflicting ideologies; freedom
under God versus ruthless, Godless tyranny.” And again in his inaugural
address, on January 20, 1961, in Washington, D.C., when he said, “The same
revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around
the globe — the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of
the state but from the hand of God.”
Whatever
Kennedy’s motives were as a politician for emphasizing this point, on the
historical substance he had it absolutely correct. The Declaration of
Independence issued from Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, included four separate
references to God. In addition to the “endowed by their Creator” line mentioned
by JFK in his July 4 speech, there is an opening salute to “the laws of
nature’s God,” an appeal to “the Supreme Judge of the World,” and a closing
expression of “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.”
A signer of the
declaration, Samuel Adams, writing to a friend on July 9, wished the
declaration had been issued earlier: “If it had been done nine months ago we
might have been justified in the sight of God.”
George
Washington, announcing the Declaration of Independence to the troops in a
General Order dated July 9, wrote, “The General hopes and trusts, that every
officer and man, will endeavor to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier
defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country….knowing that now the
peace and safety of his Country depends (under God) solely on the success of
our arms.”
The theology
of the country’s founding has tended to get lost in the decades since Kennedy’s
death, to the point where if someone unveiled the document anew today, hard-core
separation-of-church-and-state types might even see it as a violation of the
First Amendment’s clause prohibiting Congress from establishing a religion. The
Declaration’s concept of God-given rights certainly is not without its flaws.
God, alas, tends to be quite reticent when it comes to weighing in on
disagreements about the definition of rights. Some extremists invoke God’s name
while attempting to deprive others of rights. Atheists and agnostics, of whom
there are increasing numbers these days, are left out.
For all that,
there are some signs that a recovery is brewing of the theology of July 4. The
Tea Party movement, after all, is not only a call for smaller government
(“taxed enough already”), but also a conscious effort to recall the vision of
the founders, of the original Boston Tea Party. Dave Brat, the economics
professor who upset Eric Cantor in a recent Republican primary for to represent
Virginia’s seventh congressional district, said during his campaign, “a belief
in God and the faith of our Founders leads to strong moral fiber. That’s
probably the most important ingredient in this country.”
So amid all
the fireworks and barbecue smoke this July 4, consider pausing for a moment to
reflect on the one our founding fathers called the Creator. As Kennedy
realized, the American Revolution — and thus the country we live in today —
started with God, and with the Founders’ belief in rights that are his gift to
us. Whatever your religious views, or lack of them, if you are an American,
it’s at least worth understanding the idea on which our nation was founded.
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