Matthew A Gerber

“The old distinctions of tribe, race, or ethnicity—of Athenian or Spartan, pagan or Jew, Anglo-Saxon or Gallic, Catholic or Protestant—are no longer the determining factor of political legitimacy or nationhood. Ethnic heritage and ties of common kindred or of religious faith and culture are still very important, but they are not the basis of civic identity. That is only possible if there is a common political principle that allows laws and constitutions based on something other than race, creed, or ethnic heritage. Only then can there be fellow citizens separate from common kindred—or separate from being common subjects. And that is only possible if there is a ground of civic friendship that recognizes our equal humanity under the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”
― Matthew Spalding, The Making of the American Mind: The Story of our Declaration of Independence