ANCIENT ECHOES PODCAST: WHY I NO LONGER BELIEVE IN GOD (JESSUP PA)

By Jeric Yurkanin

Every Fourth of July, Americans gather beneath brilliant fireworks, wave flags, sing patriotic songs, and celebrate the birth of the United States.

It is a day filled with pride, gratitude, family traditions, and remembrance.

For many Americans, it represents the beginning of freedom.

But every nation has more than one story.

The United States is no exception.

Alongside the remarkable achievements that deserve recognition are chapters of history that are painful to read, difficult to discuss, and impossible to erase. They are not separate from the American story—they are part of it.

Some believe that discussing these chapters on Independence Day diminishes patriotism.

I believe the opposite.

I believe remembering America’s hardest truths is one of the deepest forms of patriotism.

Real patriotism is not pretending a nation has always been right.

It is loving a country enough to expect it to live up to its highest ideals.

America’s founding documents expressed extraordinary principles. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all people are created equal and possess inherent rights. Those ideals have inspired democratic movements around the world.

Yet at the same time those words were written, slavery continued. Native American nations faced displacement from their ancestral lands through warfare, forced removal, and broken treaties. Women lacked many legal and political rights. For generations, many Americans were excluded from the freedoms the nation celebrated.

As American history continued, new groups found themselves fighting for equal dignity and protection under the law.

African Americans struggled through slavery, segregation, voter suppression, and racial violence before achieving major civil rights victories.

Women fought for the right to vote, own property, pursue careers, and participate equally in public life.

Native American communities fought to preserve their lands, cultures, languages, and sovereignty despite centuries of displacement and forced assimilation.

During the twentieth century, LGBTQ Americans also faced widespread discrimination. In many states, same-sex relationships were criminalized. Many people lost jobs, housing, military careers, or family relationships because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Some churches welcomed LGBTQ people, while others rejected them or taught that they should be excluded from full participation in church life. Over time, LGBTQ Americans and their allies organized for legal protections, equal treatment, and greater social acceptance, while religious communities continued to hold differing theological views about sexuality and marriage.

These histories are different.

Each has its own context.

Yet they share something important in common.

They remind us that America’s promise of liberty has often expanded because ordinary people challenged injustice and asked the nation to become more consistent with its own ideals.

Throughout our history, people have challenged the nation to become better.

Abolitionists confronted slavery.

Women’s rights advocates challenged legal inequality.

Labor organizers fought for safer working conditions.

Civil rights activists demanded equal treatment under the law.

Many Native American leaders defended their nations, cultures, and treaty rights.

LGBTQ Americans advocated for equal protection, recognition, and the freedom to live openly without fear of criminalization or discrimination.

Countless ordinary citizens worked quietly within their own communities to expand opportunity, justice, and compassion.

Their efforts helped shape the America we know today.

The country’s greatest moments have often come when people refused to accept injustice as inevitable.

Remembering those struggles should not weaken our appreciation for America.

It should deepen it.

Because progress did not happen automatically.

It happened because people believed this country could be better than it was.

History also reminds us to be humble.

Every generation tends to believe it has solved the moral failures of the past.

Yet future generations often recognize blind spots that earlier Americans failed to see.

Learning history is not about assigning collective guilt.

It is about understanding how decisions, beliefs, institutions, and laws affected real people.

It helps us celebrate genuine progress while recognizing where improvement is still needed.

For me, Independence Day is not only a celebration.

It is also a day of reflection.

I think about those whose voices were overlooked.

I think about those whose freedoms arrived later than others.

I think about the Americans who challenged injustice, often at great personal cost, because they believed the nation’s highest ideals were worth fighting for.

That reflection does not lessen my respect for America.

It strengthens it.

Because my respect is rooted not in the belief that America has always been perfect, but in the belief that America has repeatedly shown the capacity to confront injustice, expand liberty, and continue growing.

Patriotism does not require forgetting difficult history.

It requires the courage to remember it.

As America moves beyond its 250th anniversary, I hope we tell a fuller national story—one that celebrates remarkable achievements while also acknowledging painful chapters with honesty.

A mature nation should be able to hold both truths at the same time.

It can celebrate freedom while remembering those who fought to extend it.

It can honor its founders while recognizing their imperfections.

It can take pride in its progress while remaining committed to doing better.

That, to me, is not a rejection of America.

It is an expression of hope.

Hope that the nation’s highest ideals continue to inspire each new generation.

Hope that liberty becomes more inclusive with time.

Hope that honesty and patriotism can stand side by side.

Because remembering America’s hardest truths is not the opposite of loving this country.

Sometimes, it is one of the clearest ways to show that you do.