This\u00a0is guest post from my friend Tim Barton<\/a>, an ordained minister and speaker for WallBuilders<\/a>, a national pro-family organization that presents America\u2019s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our religious, moral, and constitutional heritage. WallBuilders has been recognized from coast-to-coast for its work in education, history, law, and public policy, integrating the elements of Biblical faith and morality throughout all aspects of American life and culture. See his video here<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As the election quickly approaches, our nation faces a fork in the road, a choice between two distinct worldviews and philosophies of government. These two roads are diametrically opposed and their end results will not only impact our future but will determine what is left behind for our children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n
One side cries for larger government and shared or collective responsibility.\u00a0The other side encourages individual responsibility and freedom of choice. It\u2019s not just the economic differences; there are clear moral distinctions which separate the two camps.<\/p>\n
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson explained that \u201cwe hold these truths to be self-evident,<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 a Jeffersonian way of saying, \u201cAny dummy should understand this.\u201d We believe that \u201call<\/em> men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.\u201d Signer of the Declaration and Constitution, James Wilson explained that unalienable rights are \u201cthose rights to which we are entitled<\/em> by our all-wise and all-beneficent Creator.\u201d John Dickinson, a member of the Continental Congress and Brigadier-General as well as a signer of the Constitution, similarly explained that unalienable rights are rights \u201cwhich God gave to you and no inferior power has a right to take away.\u201d They are, in effect, God-given rights.<\/p>\n
The Declaration identifies three of our God-given rights as \u201clife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Life<\/h4>\n
It is no coincidence that the first identified God-given right is the right to life. Without life, all other rights are meaningless. This concept alone should weigh heavily on our perspective on abortion. Some may argue, \u201cWhat about the mother\u2019s rights?\u201d The right of convenience or inconvenience does not bear more weight than the God-given right to life. The attempt to remove consequences from actions has become a \u201cright\u201d in our culture. It is foolish and na\u00efve to assume that someone else should clean up the mess you made or to even demand that someone should not be made to pay for the food they just consumed. However, this is the exact reasoning that is used to argue for the \u201cconvenience right\u201d of the mother to abort her unborn child. But, I digress. \u00a0Simply put, our Founders knew that without Life all other liberties and happiness would be meaningless.<\/p>\n
Liberty<\/h4>\n
Liberty has become a rallying cry for many today.\u00a0It has been the cry of those from Moses in the Bible to William Wallace in Scotland to our founders who fought in the American Revolution. But there have been different approaches to liberty. In France, throughout her many revolutions, liberty was a leading cry. However, the French revolution was significantly different from the American Revolution. The French presumed that liberty should be without any constraints, moral or otherwise. They believed government should rectify the class distinctions and abuses that had long pervaded their nation. Their cry was for \u201cLiberty, Equality and Fraternity.\u201d This notion, however, is a contradiction both in terms and effect.<\/p>\n
With\u00a0liberty, people have the opportunity to achieve based on their choices, ability and work ethic. Because people make different choices, have different abilities, and put forth different levels of effort, people will not achieve equally. Therefore, the only way to make people \u201cequal\u201d in terms of outcome is for an outside force to \u201cbalance the scales.\u201d This \u201coutside source\u201d is always the Emperor, or King, or Government, and it will always strip away liberty to give equality. You simply cannot have both.<\/p>\n
Pursuit of Happiness<\/h4>\n
In America, we believed liberty was better than equality of outcome (but we do believe in the inherent equality of worth). We would rather be free to make our own choices than be equal in possessions, lands or finances and be controlled and dictated to by the Government, Emperor or King. (Ironically, the \u201cgovernment\u201d in this role always becomes a \u201ccontrolling\u201d authority over the people to bring them \u201cequality,\u201d but in so doing it establishes a \u201cruling class\u201d over the people \u2013 which is exactly what the French were fighting against in the first place!) This is why in America we said \u201cliberty and the pursuit of happiness.\u201d In America, you are free to pursue whatever dream you desire. Because you are alive (\u201clife\u201d) and have the freedom to make your own choices, within the confines of law (\u201cliberty\u201d), you can pursue any field or career you desire. This does not guarantee success but it allows you the \u201cpursuit of happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
As this election draws near, there are two paths which lie before us. They are headed in opposite directions. One encourages \u201clife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness\u201d and one seems to be in direct opposition to these God-given rights. Although both sides promise success and prosperity, there is only one way which has proven to achieve this dream.<\/p>\n
This election, vote for \u201cLife, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This\u00a0is guest post from my friend Tim Barton, an ordained minister and speaker for WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents America\u2019s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our religious, moral, and constitutional heritage. WallBuilders has been recognized from coast-to-coast for its work in education, history, law, and public policy, integrating the elements […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1084,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,24,6],"tags":[1068,41,66,1069,58,67],"class_list":["post-1023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-guest-posts","category-politics","tag-culture","tag-government","tag-life","tag-politics","tag-presidential-election","tag-tim-barton"],"yoast_head":"\n
Tim Barton: Vote Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This\u00a0is guest post from my friend Tim Barton, an ordained minister and speaker for WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tim Barton: Vote Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This\u00a0is guest post from my friend Tim Barton, an ordained minister and speaker for WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FaithWalkers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-18T22:55:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bill Blankschaen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bill Blankschaen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/\",\"name\":\"Tim Barton: Vote Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-18T22:55:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-18T22:55:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/5560c0a98f542f838152bf4905b03dcb\"},\"description\":\"This\u00a0is guest post from my friend Tim Barton, an ordained minister and speaker for WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tim Barton: Vote Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/\",\"name\":\"FaithWalkers\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/5560c0a98f542f838152bf4905b03dcb\",\"name\":\"Bill Blankschaen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50dd3b6d344807f779ec98d51630f161?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50dd3b6d344807f779ec98d51630f161?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bill Blankschaen\"},\"description\":\"Bill Blankschaen is a writer, author, and speaker who empowers people to live an authentic life with abundant faith. A former pastor, Christian school leader, and master teacher, he is the founder of FaithWalkers (Faithwalkers.com) where he equips Christians to live an authentic life and a blogger on faith and cultural issues at Patheos and TheResurgent.com. He is the author of several books including A Story Worth Telling: Your Field Guide to Living an Authentic Life, What God Wants You to Do Next, The Secret to Explosive Personal Growth, and multiple collaborative books including his latest with co-author Erick Erickson \u2014 You Will Be Made to Care: The War on Faith, Family, and Your Freedom to Believe (Regnery, February 22, 2016). In addition to his own writing and speaking, Bill helps other people and organizations tell their own story in effective ways. He comes alongside authors as a collaborative writer, handcrafts engaging materials as a content creator, and creates an effective brand strategy as a platform developer with his team of creatives and digital technicians. (BillintheBlank.com)\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/FaithWalkersBlog.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/author\/billblankschaen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tim Barton: Vote Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness","description":"This\u00a0is guest post from my friend Tim Barton, an ordained minister and speaker for WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tim Barton: Vote Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness","og_description":"This\u00a0is guest post from my friend Tim Barton, an ordained minister and speaker for WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/","og_site_name":"FaithWalkers","article_published_time":"2012-10-18T22:55:38+00:00","author":"Bill Blankschaen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bill Blankschaen","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/","name":"Tim Barton: Vote Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-18T22:55:38+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-18T22:55:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/5560c0a98f542f838152bf4905b03dcb"},"description":"This\u00a0is guest post from my friend Tim Barton, an ordained minister and speaker for WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/10\/tim-barton-vote-life-liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tim Barton: Vote Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/","name":"FaithWalkers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/5560c0a98f542f838152bf4905b03dcb","name":"Bill Blankschaen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50dd3b6d344807f779ec98d51630f161?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50dd3b6d344807f779ec98d51630f161?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bill Blankschaen"},"description":"Bill Blankschaen is a writer, author, and speaker who empowers people to live an authentic life with abundant faith. A former pastor, Christian school leader, and master teacher, he is the founder of FaithWalkers (Faithwalkers.com) where he equips Christians to live an authentic life and a blogger on faith and cultural issues at Patheos and TheResurgent.com. He is the author of several books including A Story Worth Telling: Your Field Guide to Living an Authentic Life, What God Wants You to Do Next, The Secret to Explosive Personal Growth, and multiple collaborative books including his latest with co-author Erick Erickson \u2014 You Will Be Made to Care: The War on Faith, Family, and Your Freedom to Believe (Regnery, February 22, 2016). In addition to his own writing and speaking, Bill helps other people and organizations tell their own story in effective ways. He comes alongside authors as a collaborative writer, handcrafts engaging materials as a content creator, and creates an effective brand strategy as a platform developer with his team of creatives and digital technicians. (BillintheBlank.com)","sameAs":["http:\/\/FaithWalkersBlog.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/author\/billblankschaen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1023\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}