Fight for Independence Day like you do for Christmas

We always hear about the so-called War on Christmas, where people feel that they can’t say “Merry Christmas” for fear that you might be considered insensitive to those who celebrate other holidays, such as Hanukkah. If retail workers or others dare to say the all-encompassing “Happy holidays,” it’s seen as an affront to Christians.

However, there is another holiday out there where folks don’t dare to say its name, although it baffles me as to why. This holiday doesn’t have other competing days, and it’s not one that’s limited by faith. It’s a day that we revere as the birth of this country and the freedoms that we enjoy today.

Independence Day. There. I said it. Sue me.

Why is everyone so afraid to call the holiday we have coming up Independence Day, instead relegating it to the mundane declaration of the date that it falls on? Everywhere you look, advertisements show that we’re going to be having “July 4th” activities and “Fourth of July” festivals. We’re going to have parades, baseball games, barbecues and flags galore to celebrate the day, and we’re going to light up the night with dazzling fireworks.

We’re going to be doing things that folks in less-developed countries only dream of, yet those two beautiful words — Independence Day — seem to be akin to shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater. We’ll say everything else under the sun on this day and probably do a few things that we might regret later, but yet when it comes to announcing what day it is, Independence Day is considered to be a dirty phrase.

We used to be proud to broadcast our patriotism. We used to have beaming smiles when people spoke of independence. However, independence is rarely spoken on broadcast television. Businesses tout their big red, white and blue sales for “the Fourth of July.” It’s like we’re a nation that’s ashamed of our freedom instead of flaunting it like a snazzy, sexy sports car.

Why are we so unwilling to say two words that sum up the decision 245 years ago where American colonists signed a Declaration of Independence and essentially told the king of England that they weren’t going to put up with his tyranny anymore and were venturing out on their own? Why are we denying that the ensuing Revolutionary War that took place after the document was signed was a battle for our freedom and for our independence to be who or what we want to be?

Instead, we call this holiday by its date. There’s another day in history we call by its date, but it’s not celebrated with red, white and blue and hot dogs — Sept. 11. That’s when our little hamlet of freedom was shaken to its core by foreign terrorism that reminded us that freedom is not simply given to us. We have to fight for it, and many folks do that for America every day, whether they wear a military uniform, a police uniform or a three-piece suit in the courtroom.

After what happened earlier this year when our nation’s Capitol was besieged by people intent on disrupting a democratic process laid out in our United States Constitution, it’s highly likely that the date Jan. 6 will be another one that Americans speak with bitterness on their tongues — another dark day in our history. With this tendency for specific dates to become unpleasant to think and speak of, why do we relegate one of the biggest celebrations of the year for America to a mere Fourth of July?

What kind of reaction do you think people would have if we called Veterans Day “Nov. 11,” or if we simply called Thanksgiving “the fourth Thursday of November”? It makes little sense for us to make our proud holiday of patriotism into something we should be ashamed of. We should embrace our freedom and our civil liberties and not glance around for fear someone might change our status to dictatorship simply because we dare to say the words “Independence Day.”

By not saying the words, we’re indicating that the people who fought and died to maintain the infancy of our nation are not important, that they’re an afterthought. We’re acting like our fun times on the lake and parties in our backyards are prepackaged and given to us like food in a grocery store, not acknowledging that there was a long and laborious process to get our country to where it is. That’s wrong. That’s half a step away from despicable.

I hope that we all take a little time to remember that our way of life exists because our ancestors took steps to secure our independence. We’re so ferocious when it comes to protecting the holiday of Christmas from being watered down, but I believe we should fight just as hard to keep Independence Day from becoming a faint memory. Americans are proud of who they are, and they should be proud that they have their independence, as well.

Happy Independence Day, one and all, and just in case I forget to say it in six months, have a merry Christmas.

Lee Pulaski is the city editor for the Shawano Leader. Readers can contact him at lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com.