Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. Continue steadfast, and with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.”
The Declaration of Independence is easily one of the most important documents ever written, and set the stage for world history to be changed forever. It was not a legal document, it was not a petition. It was open treason against the most powerful empire in the world. And every man who signed it knew the price they would pay if their revolution failed.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
With these words, they ground their declaration not in man’s authority, but in divine authority. They appealed to God as the source of their right to be free. That the laws of God were higher than any earthly authority.
This is what made their revolution unshakeable. If liberty is granted by the government, then the government can take it away. But if liberty is granted by God, then no power, ruler, king, or empire can take it away.
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, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to 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.
Here the founders make it unmistakable that our human rights come from God, and that the purpose of government is to protect these rights. That the power to govern is granted by consent of the people being governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or overthrow their government to ensure that it uses its power to protect these rights.
We, therefore, 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 full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and 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.
In the conclusion of the declaration, the founders once again make an appeal to God, and in the name of the people declare the United Colonies are Free and Independent States. They place their trust in their Creator, and pledge their Lives, Fortunes, and Sacred Honor.
The Declaration of Independence is not just an old legal document on faded parchment. It was the groundwork for the greatest nation in the history of our world and still influences every aspect of our daily lives. We speak freely, worship without fear, gather with our families without the permission of the state. We are a free people, endowed by God with rights that no government or power on this earth can take away.
It troubles me to see people forget this. Or worse, begin to believe that their rights come from their government. This is a dangerous delusion. For what the government gives, it can and will take when it sees fit.
We are a Christian nation. There is no valid argument against this fact. The Declaration and other founding documents can only be understood in the light of Christianity. The appeal to “Nature’s God”, to the “Creator”, to the “Supreme Judge of the world”, are not empty phrases. It is the language of men who believed in the Divine. The great American experiment depends on the understanding that liberty is God given, and that without Him, we cannot be free.
And so the call is to us. The Founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of liberty. We are asked for no less. To forget God is to lose freedom. To stand with Him is to remain free. The choice is ours.