American Ten Commandments

What does it mean to be an American? At least, what did it mean once?

Today, we’re living in an uncertain twilight. It’s hard to tell whether it’s dusk or dawn. Many of us sense something’s wrong, though, so we are listening out for a call to unity.

But just what is it that unites us as a people?

We need a credo of solidarity to remind us who we are, in both dark times and light, but also one that reveals who is not in solidarity with us.

So, we must imagine Americanism is a civic religion.

Without getting too ambitious, we can rediscover the commitments that animate a truly American soul—and distill them into something concise and memorable. What if someone were swearing allegiance on the day of becoming a citizen? Or, what if someone had decided to sign a legal social contract upon turning eighteen, which included a clear preamble?

We can try to imagine what the Founders might have set down for us if we asked them to create an American Ten Commandments. This is not intended to insult Moses, but rather to envision his tablets’ secular counterpart, borrowing from the biblical trope while maintaining a healthy distance between church and state.

1. Recognize your fellow citizens as equals — not in the accidents of birth or the exercise of virtues and talents, but in the eyes of the law and your Creator.
2. Hold as sacred the rights of others — their life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness — in reciprocity with your own.
3. Ground all law in the consent of the governed, and claim your rights of secession, establishment, and association by compact.
4. Practice personal, social, and civic virtues to excel in your pursuits, become a responsible contributor, and be a good citizen.
5. Defend others’ expression — even of egregious ideas — absent threat, defamation, fraud, or incitement, so they can make themselves known and be given their due.
6. Defend yourself, your family, and your fellow citizens against both criminals and tyrants, taking up arms if necessary — to guard freedom and civilization.
7. Be creative, generative, and industrious in your way, so that society benefits from your service, and you benefit from serving.
8. Prioritize your community over state, region, or country, as you must live among your neighbors — and subsidiarity law should mirror that priority.
9. Associate with others in compassion, charity, and free collaboration — lift your neighbors when they fall, and they will lift you.
10. Pledge priority to your fellow citizens, as they have pledged priority to you.

“Maybe this isn’t Americanism at all,” I thought to myself as I finished writing number ten.

Maybe these capture something more cosmopolitan—something that can ignite the minds of many again, beyond our borders.