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July 4 stands for more than the 233rd birthday of the nation. It denotes freedom's major document as important a symbol to the world as it is the "soul" of our county, state and nation: The Declaration of Independence.

Most vital is the beginning of the second paragraph of the Declaration: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. — That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,…"

Expanded so that the term "men" includes all persons, the Declaration reminds us that rights belong only to individuals. Government has no rights. It only has limited powers. The role of government is to secure individual rights, not cancel or supersede them.

The big questions for this July 4 and all other times: Does government know its place, and is it acting accordingly?

Gerald Schneider, Kensington