“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“Self-evident…” All people should be able to discern these…
"Truths.” There is something called “truth.” It is not subjective, it is eternal, absolute, and obtainable (some of it is “self-evident, but not all). One of those “truths” is that…
“All men are created equal…” First, all men are CREATED. There is a God, and He created us. Further, He created us…
“Equal.” As discussed previously, nobody is born with the right to rule anybody else. That is one meaning Jefferson intended. There is no “hierarchy” in the eyes of God, where one man is born “King,” another “nobility,” and others “peasants.” This may end up, in the process of time, being the social arrangement, but nobody is born, created by God, to be “King.” Jefferson will have more to say about that later.
But there is another meaning to “equal,” and Jefferson actually explains that here. He does NOT mean equality of results. That can only be obtained by force. Let me explain.
There is a maxim, “If men are free, they will not be equal. If they are equal, they will not be free.” Opportunity or outcomes—which do we prefer?
For example, Elon Musk’s bank account and mine are not equal. The only way they ever will be is if Elon either voluntarily (freely) gives me half his money, or if half his money is forcefully taken away from him by thieves (i.e., government) and given to me. The latter option (force) obviously limits Elon’s freedom. Another example is that Steven Curry and I are unequal on a basketball court. If we played one-on-one, and both left FREE, there would NOT be equality of result. The only way to have equality of outcome on a basketball court between Curry and me is if you break both his legs, tie his hands behind his back, don’t let him cross midcourt, and then MAYBE we could have equality of outcome. But by doing so to Steven, you have obviously limited his freedom. People are simply not equal in talents, abilities, intelligence, motivations, and a thousand other ways in which human beings are not equal, if left free.
And our Founding Fathers certainly knew that. Freedom of opportunity is what they had in mind. The other—the hierarchy which did NOT provide freedom of opportunity—is what they were rebelling against. So, anybody who thinks DEI is the Founders’ intent in the Declaration of Independence is totally ignorant of the historical circumstances in which they lived.
But Jefferson says there ARE ways in which ALL humans are equal: “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” Please note, first of all, where our rights come from: “…are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” “Endowed by their Creator.” Our rights come from God. Our rights come from God. OUR RIGHTS COME FROM GOD! Do you hear that, Left-wing, Marxist, Democratic Party? Our rights come from God! If you don’t believe that—and the Left does NOT believe it—then you do not believe in the America established by our Founding Fathers.
Remember CNN’s Dana Bash? Upset by a comment from President Trump, she announced, “CNN does not hate our country.” Yes…they…do. At least, they hate the country founded by Jefferson, Madison, Washington, et al. They want to create an entirely new country, keep calling it “America,” and say “We love America!” They love the godless, government-dominated, elitist-ruled America of their vision, not the one in the history books.
To the Left, since they do not accept the God of Judeo-Christianity, as our Founders did, our rights could not possibly have come from Him. The only other place they could have come from is the man-government. And that’s what the Left believes—our rights come from government. I lived in China for ten years. Don’t tell me that isn’t what they think.
What is America?
Jefferson tells us what some of these God-endowed rights are: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness (“property” to use John Locke’s word). All humans have, from God, the right to life; no mother has the authority to rob her baby of that God-given right. God endows all humans with a right to freedom, and yes, there is the inconsistency in some of the Founders of slavery. But just as they were born into, and trying to escape from, a system of hierarchy (it didn’t happen overnight, indeed, it took hundreds of years), they were also raised in a world where slavery was still accepted. Slavery had existed for thousands of years and wouldn’t be abolished instantly, any more than hierarchy was. And it was the principle enunciated by Jefferson here in the Declaration of Independence, that were not only the death blow to “divine right monarchy” and “hierarchical rule,” but also drove the stake through the heart of slavery. The Left will never admit that because it makes the Founders great, far-sighted men, and the Left cannot have that if they want to create a new America built upon totally new, atheistic, Marxist, totalitarian principles.
And, Jefferson said, all men have a right to pursue happiness, to use their property in a way that will not rob others of their life and liberty, but can pursue whatever noble goals of virtue, decency, and societal benefaction that God intended for them to. “Pursuit of happiness” does not mean “licentious barbarism.” “The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.” That’s what it means—pursuit of happiness ONLY in harmony with the “laws of God.”
But that’s not what the Left wants—more on that in my next installment.
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