As we prepare for and consider how we celebrate July 4, I think it’s worth thinking about how else we might celebrate, and what our celebrations say about us.
The Network of Spiritual Progressives several years back created A Guide to an Alternative July 4 Celebration with some interesting ideas for an Interdependence Day celebration.
Faced with July 4th celebrations that are focused on militarism, ultra-nationalism, and “bombs bursting in air,” many American families who do not share those values turn July 4th into another summer holiday focused on picnics, sports and fireworks while doing their best to avoid the dominant rhetoric and bombast…
…We also acknowledge that in the 21st century there is a pressing need to develop a new kind of consciousness–a recognition of the interdependence of everyone on the planet. A new revolution is necessary–one in which our actions reflects a realization that our well-being depends on the well-being of everyone else on the planet and of the planet itself.
I think many of their ideas regarding what to celebrate, and how, are worth thinking about.
A Liberal Mormon 