As the country approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas spoke about the foundation of the country and said directly: “progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government.”

He kept the focus on the Declaration itself, on the claim that all men are created equal and are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” and he treated that language as a statement about where rights come from and what government is allowed to do.

He warned that belief in those principles is fading in the places that shape culture, describing “cynicism, rejection, hostility and animus” toward the founding, and saying those principles have “fallen out of favor” in many of the institutions that influence how Americans think.

“Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government.”

Then he pointed to Woodrow Wilson.

Wilson argued that government should evolve and adapt, and that the Constitution should be read in light of changing conditions. That view expanded federal power and placed more authority in administration and expertise.

Under Wilson, the federal workforce was re-segregated. Black civil servants were separated, pushed out of positions, and blocked from advancement inside the government.

Wilson also screened The Birth of a Nation at the White House, a film that portrayed the Ku Klux Klan as heroic and helped drive its resurgence.

“Cynicism, rejection, hostility and animus.”

Those are Thomas’ words describing the cultural shift.

He also pointed back to the founding generation and their pledge of “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor,” speaking about it as a real commitment made with full awareness of the risk.

If the country no longer believes rights are inherent, then those rights do not stay where they are.

They move into the hands of institutions.

They move into the hands of whoever holds power.

And once that happens, they can be adjusted, narrowed, expanded, or taken away.

That is the direction Thomas is warning about.

Then we must stand firm and defend our Constitutional Republic from those who reject the founding principles that made it possible, with clarity about what is at stake and the resolve to preserve it.

“Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government.”

Pray for Justice Thomas.

Pray for his strength and clarity.

And pray for a country that now has to decide whether it still believes the principles of our Founding Fathers.