How to revive your belief in democracy

I bring you greetings

from the 52nd-freest nation on Earth.

As an American, it irritates me
that my nation keeps sinking

in the annual rankings
published by Freedom House.

I'm the son of immigrants.

My parents were born in China
during war and revolution,

went to Taiwan and then came
to the United States,

which means all my life

I've been acutely aware just how fragile
an inheritance freedom truly is.

That's why I spend my time teaching,
preaching and practice democracy.

I have no illusions.

All around the world now,

people are doubting
whether democracy can deliver.

Autocrats and demagogues seem emboldened,

even cocky.

The free world feels leaderless.

And yet, I remain hopeful.

I don't mean optimistic.

Optimism is for spectators.

Hope implies agency.

It says I have a hand in the outcome.

Democratic hope requires faith

not in a strongman
or a charismatic savior

but in each other,

and it forces us to ask:
how can we become worthy of such faith?

I believe we are a moment
of moral awakening,

the kind that comes
when old certainties collapse.

At the heart of that awakening
is what I call civic religion,

and today I want to talk about
what civic religion is,

how we practice it,

and why it matters now more than ever.

Let me start with the what.

I define civic religion as a system
of shared beliefs and collective practices

by which the members
of a self-governing community

choose to live like citizens.

Now, when I say citizen here,
I'm not referring to papers or passports.

I'm talking about a deeper,
broader ethical conception

of being a contributor to community,
a member of the body.

To speak of civic religion as religion
is not poetic license.

That's because democracy

is one of the most faith-fueled
human activities there is.

Democracy works only when enough of us
believes democracy works.

It is at once a gamble and a miracle.

Its legitimacy comes not from
the outer frame of constitutional rules,

but from the inner workings
of civic spirit.

Civic religion, like any religion,

contains a sacred creed,
sacred deeds and sacred rituals.

My creed includes words like
"equal protection of the laws"

and "we the people."

My roll call of hallowed deeds
includes abolition, women's suffrage,

the Civil Rights Movement,

the Allied landing at Normandy,

the fall of the Berlin Wall.

And I have a new civic ritual
that I'll tell you about in a moment.