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America’s Founding Principles and the Fuxture of Democracy with Constitutional Scholar Jeffrey Rosen

July 4, 2026 · 1 min read

On this 250th Independence Day, how much do our founding documents still matter to Americans? It turns out a lot, according to guest Prof. Jeffrey Rosen. CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, he’s a law professor at George Washington University and has traveled the country speaking to diverse audiences that share a deep commitment to our nation’s founding principles.

Jeff quotes from memory host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush’s great-grandfather Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis on free speech, and explains the thinking that the various founders brought to this experiment in democracy. Another highlight of the conversation: Enlightenment rational values were the driving force behind the Constitution’s emphasis on religious freedom for all. He doesn’t hesitate to point to where the founders fell far short of their ideals, but that fact ultimately offers hope for our time: we’ve come this far despite setbacks and mistakes – and so the conflicts and division of today don’t automatically guarantee failure in the years ahead.

Source: Religion News Service · Read the full story →

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Татьяна Лебедева

The article about “religious freedom for all” caught my attention. In Moscow, in the church at the Vagankovsky cemetery, a monument to the victims of persecution was recently erected, and parishioners often say: “You see, here everyone can pray in their own way, as in the article.”

Georg Weber

Interesting that the Enlightenment and the Founders placed so much emphasis on religious freedom for all. In our community here in Hamburg, we often talk in choir about how important it is that no one is persecuted because of their faith - especially after the mistakes of the past. I like the hope at the end of the article that we have come far despite all the setbacks.

Ilie Ionescu

Yes, the idea of religious freedom for all sounds nice in theory, but I wonder how the founders would react if they saw today how some groups are using "tolerance" to push the Christian faith out of the public space. Here in Iași, at the neighborhood church, we still pray quietly without disturbing anyone, and yet sometimes I feel that this is being forgotten. Interesting what Rosen says about their mistakes and the hope that we still move forward.

Марія Панченко

I was struck by how Rosen mentions that the founders still fell short of their ideals, but that's what gives me hope. In our Kyiv parish in Troeshchyna, we also often say that freedom of belief is not empty words, but something that was paid for with blood both in Soviet times and before. I wonder if many Americans today still actually read the same documents he talks about.

Юлія Коваленко

Yes, Maria, I was also touched by this very place about the imperfection of the founders - this truth gives hope, because life is not perfect. In our parish in Vinnytsia, we also remember how our grandfathers hid Bibles in the 1930s so they wouldn't be burned. Have you recently read the Declaration or the Constitution yourself, or do you listen to such conversations more?