A Missed Opportunity On Independence Day

To the editor: The Nantucket Unitarian Church’s decision not to host the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence is disappointing, not because protest has no place in American life, but because this particular protest turns away from one of the best teaching opportunities our island has.

For years, the reading has been more than a ceremony. It has been a Nantucket tradition that brings people together to hear the words that helped launch a country still struggling, growing, and reaching toward its own ideals. The Declaration was never a perfect document, and America has never been a perfect nation. But that is exactly why it should be read, not set aside.

The Unitarian Universalist tradition itself has long been rooted in learning, moral inquiry, open dialogue, and the work of bringing people together across difference. At its best, the church has helped advance the values of this nation by encouraging people to think deeply, question honestly, and act with conscience. That history makes this decision even more disappointing. A church with such a tradition should be leading the conversation, not stepping away from it.

Nantucket is uniquely positioned to understand this. Our island has a deep history tied to freedom, conscience, abolition, and reform. Quakers and other independent thinkers helped shape Nantucket into a place where ideas about equality and human dignity were taken seriously. The African Meeting House, the anti-slavery movement, and the voices of abolitionists who came through this island are all part of that story. Nantucket was not separate from America’s contradictions. It was part of the hard work of pushing America to become better.

That is what makes this decision feel like such a missed opportunity. Instead of refusing to read the Declaration, the church could have read it with context. It could have invited reflection on who was excluded from its promises, who fought to expand them, and how generations of Americans worked to make “all men are created equal” mean more than it did in 1776. That would have been honest. That would have been educational. That would have honored both the country’s ideals and the people who suffered because those ideals were not applied equally.

Canceling the reading risks becoming an empty gesture. It may signal virtue, but it does not teach history. It does not bring people into deeper conversation. It does not honor the abolitionists, reformers, veterans, civil rights leaders, immigrants, teachers, parents, and ordinary citizens who spent the last 250 years trying to make this country more just.

America’s story is not one of instant perfection. It is a story of argument, failure, courage, correction, and progress. Nantucket’s story is part of that larger American story. Our island should be proud of its tradition of progressive thinking, but true progress does not come from avoiding difficult texts. It comes from reading them honestly, teaching them fully, and asking what responsibility they place on us now.

The Declaration of Independence should not be treated as a fragile symbol that can only be celebrated without criticism. It is strong enough to be questioned. It is important enough to be taught. And on Nantucket, of all places, it deserves to be read aloud.

Amy Riley