Defensor Veritatis - July 4th and the Declaration of Independence

Words are important – especially when discussing serious matters - that is why these words, taken from the Declaration of Independence, must not only be read, but studied.  This is our National Charter, the document that defined what we would aspire to as a nation.  This is the document that Abraham Lincoln appealed to in arguing against slavery and to which Martin Luther King, Jr. turned, to finish the work Father Abraham had begun.  The Constitution has been amended, but no one has ever tried to alter the magnificent words that are the birthright of every American.  And what do they say?  That all men (inferring humanity) are created equal in their humanity – that the dignity of the human person – which comes from God – should never be compromised, most especially before the law.  Secondly, that the person has a set of rights that are intrinsically inseparable from his humanity, that come not from any government or human association, but are endowed by their Creator.  As such, they cannot be abridged or denied by human authority.  First – oh yes, first – is LIFE (not choice.)  That a person’s life is not arbitrarily at the disposal of another, no matter how intimate the association.  That everyone, no matter their circumstances in life or their personal handicaps, has the right to their life.  If this first right is not secured, then all others are moot.  Next is LIBERTY (not freedom) – there is a difference.  In choosing to live in an organized society, man surrenders total freedom of action for the larger good (and his own good.)  Liberty is the ability of man to fully live his humanity with his fellow man without artificial constraints.  As the founders knew, liberty, which is built on virtue, will cause a society to flourish; while freedom, untethered to either God or nature, merely becomes license and is destructive of human liberty.  Finally, we are granted the Pursuit of happiness.  This Creator-endowed right is simply the right to live our human potential to the extent of our abilities and desires.  Like liberty and freedom, it is not untethered license, but rather the ability to flourish in a true human society – one that embraces Reason (not emotion) as the means of defining human liberty; that accepts Reality (that is the relationship of man to nature and the ultimate good of human society) and does not seek to impose a false reality out of misguided ideologies; and that acknowledges that all that we know, all the good we experience, comes from God (defiant atheists notwithstanding, you might as well stand under Niagara Falls and try and spit the water back as deny the existence of God.)  Our own history is shining example of what is possible when a nation embraces the three “Rs” – Reason, Reality and Religion – and the suffering and disintegration that occurs when it does not.