Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, on a podcast episode of "The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie," offered a reminder of what it means to be an American. He said it does not hinge on a person’s religion or race, but on a belief in the mission statement of the United States and in each individual’s ability to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
He went on to say that younger generations often treat those values as “inevitable,” when in reality they are far from the global norm and quite unique. Gorsuch warned that if Americans stop learning the stories of the Founders, the struggles that secured independence and the origins of the nation’s laws and institutions, those values risk being lost. That erosion would leave the United States looking more like other countries, without the same emphasis on freedom, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness.
Justice Gorsuch: America is a creedal nation.
— National Review (@NRO) May 6, 2026
We're united in a belief in those ideals in the Declaration of Independence.
That's our mission statement as a country and if the people don't get inspired to learn about them and believe in them...then the baton drops. pic.twitter.com/t43NBiGoMF
"How do you get somebody hooked on an idea?" Justice Gorsuch asked. "I think facts and figures, you know, all right, there are 13 percent, 18 percent, whatever, kind of don't speak to us the way stories do. That's how we relate to one another. I want to know your story, you want to know mine, right? And that's how we learn, really. And we figure if you're going to get interested in the Stamp Act, right? And if you're going to get interested in the Articles of Confederation, might be because of the people behind them. And the 56 signers were incredibly, incredibly interesting people. And their stories are moving."
We forget that the revolution was eight bloody long years. A third of the signers had their homes destroyed. Many of them were imprisoned. Some of their wives were imprisoned. Some of their children were imprisoned. And many of them gave their fortunes to the revolution and died poor as a result of it. So telling those stories of courage and sacrifice, we hope might inspire a few young minds and make them realize the Declaration's three big ideas are not inevitable. They were not inevitable. And their preservation is not inevitable. And that the torch passes to each generation.
We're a creedal nation. What unites us is not a religion, it's not a race, it's a belief in those three ideals.That's our mission statement as a country. And if people don't get inspired to learn about them and believe in them, well, the baton drops.
Justice Gorsuch went on to discuss the country's need to learn and teach informed civics and virtues.
"I mean, that was why Ronald Reagan, in his farewell address, that was his argument, was we need to teach informed patriotism to the next generation," the interviewer said.
"It was also George Washington's speech toward the end of his administration, where he was advocating for a national university to teach civics and virtues," Justice Gorsuch added. "And he wasn't afraid to talk about virtues that are necessary to maintain a republic. And that is something that all of the founders agreed on. I mean, Jefferson said, you know, if you expect a country to remain free and ignorant, well, you want something that's never been and never will be."
Today, those lessons are lost on many, as the United States is increasingly described in divisive terms, or as a place where voters are more focused on political identity than on protecting and teaching the values embedded in the Constitution.
We should always remember that with each vote, the vitality of our nation and its Constitution hangs in the balance, and that its strength depends on citizens who remain engaged, informed, and committed to preserving the principles that have long defined the United States.
