“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.”
The Declaration of Independence
Please note that, according to the Founders, human rights are neither gifts from a generous State nor arbitrary expressions of passing popular taste, subjective opinion, court rulings, or transient legislative preferences.
They are divine endowments.
They predate the State. They are the reason for the existence of the State. And, indeed, as the Declaration proceeds immediately to explain, “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.”
The nature of the deity behind these divinely-given rights isn’t specified. This isn’t a sectarian document. It’s not Protestant, nor Evangelical, let alone Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, or Muslim. If anything — given what it says and given the fact that Thomas Jefferson was its principal author — it’s Deistic. But its affirmation of God, and of the grounding of human rights in God, is undeniable.
Happy Independence Day to my American readers!
And, to the Brits out there, keep a stiff upper lip!
P.S. When was the last time that you looked at the Declaration of Independence? High school civics class? It might not be an altogether crazy idea to read or skim it today, or at least part of it. It’s not terribly long. And it’s truly, truly great.
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