Advancing the American Creed

Through Music

THe Declaration of Independence

Our first Constitution enshrines the American Creed

On July 4, 1776, Americans “…the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have

(i) full Power to levy War,

(ii) conclude Peace,

(iii)  contract Alliances,

(iv)  establish Commerce, and

(v) to do all other Acts and Things which

     Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

 Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress,

                JOHN HANCOCK, President.”

My Father John J. Connors in his military uniform

A Letter sent to my Mother by the Mayor of Chicago after my Father passed away

  Chorus of the Union^®

Advancing The American Creed Through Music

                                                                                November 21, 2025

         Memo To My Great Grandchildren: 

         Subject: Pope Leo XIV 

I am your great grandfather, and today is my 86th birthday. Your country and mine, America, is under attack by atheism. Atheism is a false religion that denies the existence of our Creator-God. It produces unyielding despair. As a minister of American Law and Jurisprudence I’ve been fighting atheism my entire adult life. And I want you to understand our Creator-God has blessed America and the Connors Family, of which you are its more recent members. And anyone born in America won the birth lottery of Life, including all of you, me, and Pope Leo XIV. 

I grew up in the mid-20^th Century on the South Side of Chicago, and the recently elected Pope Leo XIV like me also grew up about the same time on the South Side of Chicago. I am a former altar boy and graduated from Leo high school, the same high school my father attended, your second great grandfather. My father is my hero. He was a World War II veteran and, while under fire from the Nazis, he built a bridge across the Rhine River so Generals Eisenhower and Patton drove over the bridge into Germany. He was a fireman, a jazz musician, and in 1961 marched with the Chicago Fire Department band in the Kennedy presidential inaugural parade in Washington D.C. He was a gentleman.

The Connors Family has been in America for over 60% of our country’s history, starting with your fourth great grandmother, an Irish immigrant who saw Lincoln’s burial train carrying his corpse to Springfield. Your fourth great grandfather from Ireland died young in a home accident, leaving her alone with four children born in America, including your third great grandfather. I said a prayer at Lincoln’s tomb when admitted to the Illinois bar to practice law. I have written a song that I hope you, me, and all Americans will join in singing together.  It’s the theme song, “Listen To Our Better Angels,” of the Mystic Commonwealth’s band, the Chorus of the Union. In 2025 the Connors Family founded a charitable corporation, the Mystic Commonwealth. Its purpose is to advance the American Creed through music and create prosperity for everyone.

Americans at our Nation’s founding expressly acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence that the authorization of our Creator-God was a necessary prerequisite to separate successfully from Great Britain and become a new Nation. Our Declaration of Independence enshrines our American Creed. We Americans didn’t exist prior to July 4, 1776, when we by right proclaimed ourselves a new Nation, and assumed “among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” entitle us. The founders appealed to the “Supreme Judge of the World” to uphold our American Creed. With their “firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence” the founders mutually pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in support of our American Creed. Consequently, atheism is un-American.

The American Civil War forged America into an indissoluble spiritual Union of immortal souls. Our Nation exists because the overwhelming majority of Americans have faith in our Creator-God.  And faith defeats fear. America acknowledges in writing at her inception that our Nation’s existence depends on the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” America has no official religion; however, on July 4, 1776, and thereafter, Americans are members of that spiritual Union of souls comprising our Nation. And souls yearn for justice. Our colorblind U.S. Constitution, which includes our Declaration of Independence, is humanity’s best effort so far in creating a just government that treats all its citizens equally before the law. So under American Law all Americans are liberated immortal souls free to choose the way they live in “Pursuit of Happiness,” and no one is better than anyone else. Each American citizen is his or her own Pope. That’s a democracy. DNA chemistry tells us, except for biological brothers and sisters, each individual American is a cousin of everyone else. 

The founding of America is the greatest historical event since the birth of Jesus, whose life confirms the power of mercy and forgiveness. Guilt feelings in a human psyche are destructive. The Pope isn’t mindful that his teachings about the mystery of sex may engender fear in the hearts and minds of weak souls.  Jesus taught us to love and to hope and not be afraid. Having no children and being celibate, perhaps a virgin, the Pope lacks knowledge and experience of the mystery of sex and the spiritual, biological, social, economic, environmental, and political forces confronting a male who becomes a father. Therefore, the Pope is ignorant concerning the mystery of sex and the challenges of fatherhood. Surely it is unbelievable that an almighty and all loving Creator-God would condemn a soul to everlasting punishment for experiencing the mystery of sex. Since puberty, I’ve enjoyed the mystery of sex; and, after surviving brain surgery and prostate cancer, I’ve been experiencing the mystery of sex without any guilt or fear of eternal damnation. 

I believe in original innocence. Everybody is born free and ignorant and innocent. Surprisingly, Jesus told us to become again like little children. So I am following his instructions. There is no scientific evidence that the Pope, or anyone, have any special power to access and influence our Creator-God. To be “sin-free” isn’t a requirement for union with the Supreme Judge of the World. It is cruel, unjust and absurd to punish a soul for experiencing the mystery of sex, a natural and joyful human impulse that is the engine of human procreation. Sex is adult play and to be playful is good. It is also healthy. In America the way in which a couple builds a family, and the manner in which any person engages in private sexual practices, is up to them, provided it is not prohibited by American Law. I believe our Creator-God will continue to bless me with the vigor and physical strength to enjoy the mystery of sex if I choose to do so.

I now live with my first-born son, your grandfather John, and his sons, Dylan and Nick. Life is good, especially being free of guilt and fear. But in 2020 a family tragedy occurred with the death of your grandmother Jeanie. Like many Americans of Dylan’s and Nick’s generation, they are skeptical about the prospects for a happy life living in the current soulless American society in the emerging Internet Age. Many in their generation were deceived, lied to by Academia about the value of a college education. Many in this generation must repay a loan they could not afford and cannot discharge in bankruptcy. They sold themselves into debt slavery. Several cannot get a good paying job after graduation to pay off their loans. They don’t date. They don’t think they will be able to buy a home some day. They are not planning to marry soon. They don’t have any dreams. And “woke” culture is devaluing their manhood. My oldest grandson, Brady, fortunately doesn’t seem to be affected by societal circumstances. He and his wife live nearby me so I and my son and your grandfather John can visit Brady’s children frequently, learn new things and frolic together.

Most Americans have faith in our Creator-God. Many of these, however, do not believe in a satanic enemy at war for our souls with our Creator-God. Disagreeing with the Pope, they nevertheless recognize that the Pope opposes the false religion of atheism. But the Pope’s ideas about sin and a satanic enemy are not consistent with the idea of an almighty and all loving Creator-God. Catholicism teaches sex outside of marriage is a sin, and even some sexual acts within marriage are sinful. It is especially reprehensible for a father to engage in sexual intercourse with his children; or a Catholic priest having sexual intercourse with anyone, including masturbation. Any thought or act prohibited by Catholic doctrine and deserving punishment in the hereafter is sinful, for example, abortion. But there is no such a thing as sin. There is no such a thing as a satanic enemy. Both sin and a satanic enemy of our Creator-God are imaginary. They are not real; they are non-existent mental constructs. It is unbelievable that an almighty and all loving Creator-God would allow a satanic enemy to operate an eternal torture chamber for unrepentant sinners our Creator-God created out of love, the divine emotion. 

With malice towards none and charity for all, Lincoln reminded us to pray to our Creator-God for the forgiveness needed to heal the lingering wounds of the American Civil War. At Gettysburg he reminded us each dead Union soldier paid with his life for our “new birth of freedom.” My “sacred honor” as a father is to instill in my family by example faith in our Creator-God and our American Creed. I trust this memo is stored for eternity in the mystic cords of memory for consideration by the Supreme Judge of the World on the day I am held accountable as a minister of American Law and Jurisprudence. 

With love to lead the way and divine intelligence to guide us we live our lives upon the waves of change!

       John J. Connors

          Cousin John