Independence Day: Honoring The Just Spirit

By Mandy Ziegler

We celebrate July 4th with fireworks, barbecues, and parades to mark the day we declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, but what are we really celebrating? We often do not take the time to remember the Founding Fathers responsible for our independence. I would like to remind you of my two favorite Americans whose brilliance influenced the passage of the Declaration of Independence. They are Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and they are both prime examples of just spirits.

A just spirit is a person who seeks justice everywhere and at any time. He is the one who speaks out for the underdog, who rights all wrongs and who fights the system when power is abused. The just spirit takes all injustices as his life work. Jefferson and Franklin grew up under the suppression of England and eventually revolted against the misuse of power. Jefferson believed the British aristocratic system was inherently corrupt. He, therefore, challenged that belief and wrote a new moral code for Americans to live by which included individual human rights. Franklin is credited for his actions opposing authoritarian power in American politics.

We know a just spirit seeks justice, but what does justice mean to us personally? For most of us, justice relates to our feelings about what is fair or unfair"our moral code. We let our morals guide us in decisions and help us respond to acts of injustice. However, people growing up in different cultures and societies learn different moral codes. Feelings like guilt, shame, anxiety, hate, reward, and punishment vary from one group of people to another. How then, can we relate to each other on matters of justice? Just spirits like Franklin and Jefferson understand this dilemma and ask themselves, How can we live together on this planet when feelings of justice differ depending on our human experience and our own social biographies?

In order to answer this question as Jefferson and Franklin did, we must consider an issue beyond feelings"the issue of governance. Governance is not government, but rather a response to a system of government. It is how we govern ourselves, how we constitute laws, make decisions, and manage power so that all people receive justice.

Thomas Jefferson spoke of certain inalienable rights. He meant that individual rights exist with or without government and that governments should exist only by the consent of the people. Both Jefferson and Franklin argued that just governments gain their legitimacy from the will of the people and should be recognized as such at all times. Therefore, alongside each action of feeling is the question of governance: How do we govern ourselves?

Just governance is a balancing act between ones own interests and concerns in a conflicting situation while understanding the issues on the other side of the conflict. Each group must achieve its purpose. Justice is an attempt to reach a solution to the satisfaction of both sides. The just spirit is compelled to correct the imbalance.

As just spirits, Franklin and Jefferson both recognized the difficulty of balance in their lives. Franklin spoke of the balance between civic duty and personal virtue, and Jefferson of civic duty and individual liberty. Both just spirits lamented over slavery because of the conflict the issue caused between their personal beliefs, social behavior, and spiritual voice. Franklin eventually became an abolitionist and freed his slaves, thus ending the imbalance in his life. However, Jefferson never freed his slaves despite publicly condemning the institution, and he lived with this imbalance weighing on his spirit until his death.

In order to be fair to ourselves and to others, we must listen to our own just spirits and learn to set aside any prejudice our social biographies may have caused us. The just spirit constantly pursues balance, and accordingly, Franklin and Jefferson always addressed matters of justice and governance in their lives. It is because they listened to their just spirits that we are fortunate enough to celebrate July 4th, and with every firework I ask that you listen to yours.