Holding Truth Self-Evident

     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.--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed......

     


     There has been a lot of discussion of the Constitution of the United States of America in the past three years. Arguments have been made from all sides concerning the interpretation of America's Law of the Land, but it seems to me that very little attention has been paid to our founding document. Whereas the Constitution lays out the "how" of our system of government, the Declaration of Independence gives us the "why".


     In the above section, the Declaration declares that some things are clearly self-evident. In other words, every man and woman understands them instinctively.


     The first self-evident truth the Declaration declares is that all men are created. We have people today that have declared that we are in fact not created. 


     Secondly, men are created equal. The truth of this had to be declared in blood between the years of 1861-1865.


    Third, men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Men are given specific rights by God, not by governments; and those rights are unalienable: not only can they not be taken away, they can't even be given away.


    Fourth, among those rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  Every man is entitled to his life. Every man is entitled to his freedom, every man is entitled to pursue his well being.


    The purpose of governments, any government, is to secure these rights. The government has an obligation to God to secure the rights of its people, and it gets the consent to do so from the people. The Declaration goes on to proclaim that when a  government fails to secure the rights of its people "it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."


    Is the government of the United States of America currently meeting its obligation to its people? Has the government strayed from the "why" of its existence? I believe the answer is yes, and I'll be spelling out why over the next few posts. 


     Stay tuned.......