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The Supreme Court made expected headlines this week when it concluded its term by upholding birthright citizenship for any baby born in the United States as well as the right of states to limit transgender athletes to competing in the gender on their birth certificate.
Both sparked heated comments. We prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding Saturday, let me offer a different perspective—the wisdom of the founders and the people influencing them.
For our republic to have stood for this long—through many challenges internal and external—is both a gift and a call to continued action. As I wrote last week, I have been delighted to see the various perspectives that have been written or aired on the founders and learned quite a bit. As I think back to my long-ago high school years, I have no recollection of diving into the birth of our nation. I have been blessed by multiple trips to Washington D.C. and Boston as well as Philadelphia that sharpened my understanding.
As I write I am profoundly grateful to have been born and lived here for all of my life. I am the rare native Californian who lives within the county I was born in (second generation). That’s typical elsewhere in the country, but traditionally different for this once Golden State. We have been blessed by our lives and opportunities here in the Tri-Valley area despite the awful state and regional governance.
And I have been privileged to share my opinions with you for literally decades. My articles have been published since I was a 17-year-old high school senior.
So, I will be continuing to reflect and celebrate this weekend on what a remarkable country founded on Judeo-Christian principles my family and I get to live in and pursue whatever opportunity we chose. I am also aware that I have benefitted from my Anglo heritage—our Pakistani native son-in-law (now a naturalized citizen) has encountered way too many challenges with law enforcement based on no more than the color of his skin. Those are areas our nation needs to continue to progress with an eye toward opportunity not equality of outcomes. The government—yes you, President Trump, should not be picking winners and losers.
And I am mostly grateful to God whose providence abounds in our founding (can you imagine a tiny nation today taking on the United States as the world’s greatest power—that’s what the colonists did and were successful to give birth to this republic.
As John Adams wrote, celebrate (annually) and particularly at milestones like this year.
