At this year’s Fourth of July holiday, commemorating the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia against the British Empire, the famous Philadelphia Liberty Bell rings for Americans today to “get back to their souls.”
This appeal was issued by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and leader, at the July 3 International Peace Coalition, the 161st consecutive weekly meeting, in which she reported on details of the world being in disarray and extreme danger. If the United States returned to its founding principles, the world could move forward to high ground and safety, she said.
A strong ray of hope for this shone through in Philadelphia July 3, at the ceremony held by the National Constitution Center, to formally present its annual Liberty Medal award to Pope Leo XIV, who received it with a live stream speech from Rome. He expressed the same appeal to his fellow Americans, and also invited everyone the world over, “to reflect once again on the founding principles of the United States.” He spoke of the content of the Declaration of Independence, of its respect and love for the dignity of every human being, saying that today, we need a “solemn recommitment to these ideals that value peace and prosperity” for all.
The award ceremony opened with the ringing of the Liberty Bell, now at Independence National Historical Park, whose legend says it was rung on July 8, 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was read aloud. The bell’s inscription states: “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof,” which topic was implicitly put in universal perspective by Pope Leo, when he defined what he called “authentic freedom.” While several speakers at the award ceremony spoke of personal rights and privileges, Pope Leo said that authentic freedom comes “through a person’s capacity to know the truth.”
Defined in this way, the strategic truth to understand and loudly proclaim throughout all the lands, is that development is the basis for peace. We see the opposite in play to a terrible degree, namely that might makes right, to the victor goes the spoils, and variations on those depraved outlooks—-in the perpetration of warfare and genocide in Southwest Asia, Ukraine, in the Western Hemisphere, and elsewhere. The militarization madness underway in the Trans-Atlantic is extreme, especially in the countdown to the NATO Summit for heads of state for 32 member nations, meeting in Ankara, Turkiye July 7-8.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hosted the leaders of the Baltic nations in Berlin July 3, and at a joint press conference, they all spoke of building up forces against Russia in the region, even to the point that the Lithuanian parliament is moving to allow emplacement of nuclear weapons. President Donald Trump on a July 2 CNBC interview, boasted of his military and financial conquests, raking in money from Venezuelan oil, and delighting in what he can capture elsewhere.
Let us take up our authentic freedom and responsibility to intervene against this madness. One immediate opportunity, is to take advantage to understand the truth about the founding and history of the United States, which will be presented at a day-long conference July 5 near Philadelphia. Titled, “America 250: a Rededication,” the conference is open to the public by pre-registration, sponsored by the Diane Sare for President Independent campaign.
