Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence in
1776 to justify the secession of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain. In order for the colonies to break from the
British crown, they had to give good reason for doing so. Therefore, the leaders of the Continental
Congress asked Jefferson to put together a document outlining their argument to
the world. Jefferson’s Declaration can
be divided up into two main parts:
First, he laid out his thesis, and second, he gave evidence supporting
his thesis. Here is Jefferson’s
argument, from the second paragraph to the Declaration:
“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.”
Simply put, here is Jefferson's argument:
- All
people are created with certain rights given by God.
- Government
exists for the expressed purpose of securing these rights.
- Because
government’s power exists in the people being governed, if the government
fails to secure these God-given rights, the people have the authority –
even the responsibility – to reject that government and institute new
government.
Now the rest of the Declaration
consists of a laundry list of grievances against King George III, in which
Jefferson makes the case that indeed, the English monarch had failed miserably
to ensure the basic, God-given rights of the colonists to Life, Liberty, and
the Pursuit of Happiness. Like any good
argument, the Declaration’s conclusion must arise from the validity of the
premises. Jefferson’s first three
premises, then, form the very philosophical foundation of this great nation. To be blunt, according to Jefferson, we exist
as a nation today because God has created us with certain rights that no
government has the authority to take away.
Ergo, the United States of America exists because of the unwavering
theological beliefs of the Founding Fathers.
Where did Jefferson get his ideas
from? He was not, contrary to the
opinions of some, an evangelical Christian.
He was really a Deist, but he nevertheless believed strongly in God and
in His providence. Four times Jefferson
mentioned God in the Declaration, including the close where he expressed
complete trust in God, to whom the signers had pledged their lives.
Jefferson’s notion of a divine
order in government was not new. In
fact, the earliest pages of the Bible share the same perspective. The book of Genesis tells the story of
humanity, and it is worth giving a short summary of the events leading up to
Chapter 9, where we see the first form of human government.
In chapters 1-2, Genesis outlines
in broad strokes the creation of the world, life on earth, and, of course,
mankind. Men and women were created to
be moral agents, capable of obedience or disobedience – good or evil. They were accountable to their Creator, who
laid down some simple rules for them to follow.
Chapter 3 marks the turning point
in human history, as mankind rebelled against God and His authority. From that moment on, human history is rife
with conflict, war, and atrocity.
Chapters 4-5 detail the early
generations of people, and some of the advancements that were made, from
agriculture to music to bronze and iron working. But while the technology increases, morality
decreases. Men begin taking multiple
wives and murder takes place. Genesis
6:8 says, “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was continually evil.” Finally, God decides that He has had enough,
and He decides to start fresh with just Noah and his family left to propagate
the human race.
Chapters 6-8, then, chronicle the
Great Flood, by which God indeed gets a fresh start by wiping out life on earth
and replenishing it after the flood.
Now, it is interesting to note that
during the period during chapters 4-5, humans were governed directly by
God. It is only after the flood, in
chapter 9, that we see the origin of human government. After Noah and his family disembark from the
ark, God makes a covenant with Noah in chapter 8, and in chapter 9, God
institutes human government. In verse 6,
God says, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed.” In other words, if anyone takes an innocent
life, it is the responsibility of men to seek justice and retribution. Earlier, in chapter 4, God says only that
vengeance shall be taken on those who might murder Cain. But the post-flood declaration by God clearly
shows that human beings were now responsible for administering justice amongst
themselves.
Notice the reason why God
instituted human government. He knew
that people would murder each other. The
primary responsibility of human government, then, is to protect innocent human
life. Life is a gift from God, and each
person, because we are made in God’s image, has an inherent – a divine – right
to live. Only God has the authority to
take that away. The exception, of
course, is when humans need to administer the just penalty for someone
violating that law. In that case, the
person has forfeited his right to live because he has taken another’s life, and
human government has the responsibility and the authority to take his life as
the satisfaction of justice.
Jefferson’s words ring true to the
Biblical text: “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.” Life is the
very first and most important right.
Government exists by divine decree to protect innocent human life. When governments fail to do this, the people
have a responsibility and right to rid themselves of that government and
replace it with one that will be true to this divine decree. In the words of Ronald Reagan, “It is the
responsibility of the government, at point of bayonet if necessary, to see that
every citizen gets their Constitutional individual rights and is not denied
them by any group of individuals.”[1]
Since 1963,
the Supreme Court of the United States has consistently ruled, in cases like Abington
vs. Schempp, that government has no business even entertaining religious
ideas in public life. We have seen the
courts rule that Christmas manger scenes in town squares violates the so-called
separation of church and state. When
once American schools used the Bible as its primary textbook for educating
students to read and write, they now force teachers who hold religious views to
keep their holy books at home. Frankly,
God has become persona non grata in public schools and town
squares.
It is
difficult to reconcile the current state of American government with its
founding philosophy. Today, ruling after
ruling takes us further away from our spiritual heritage and, in fact, the
foundation upon which this nation was built.
As an analogy, we may look at the great Ivy League institutions like
Harvard, for example. Harvard was
founded to be a missionary school. In
fact, its cornerstone has the mission of the university engraved on it, and it
is clear that the founders’ intent was to train young men to take the gospel of
Jesus Christ to the world. In
the same vein, we can see how far down the slippery slope our government has
tumbled.
Consider
these words from John Whitehead,
All states of the United States of America have
expressed either in their preambles or the body of the state constitution
itself dependence on God for their preservation and strength. This biblical ideal was woven into these
constitutions when the leaders of the different states were planning the
structure of their civil governments.
Therefore, when the federal constitution was drafted, the principle of
faith in God was presumed to be a universal for healthy civil government.”[2]
Today, just
the opposite view is taken. Government
has a constitutional obligation, so the argument goes, to distance itself from
God. Even the acknowledgement of
religion is seen as being tantamount to an “establishment” of religion, and as
such, is a violation of the first amendment.
In other words, the view our society takes today is that good, healthy
government can only exist by being thoroughly secular.
Let us
consider now the consequences of the modern view. If government does not have exist by divine
decree to secure the fundamental, God-given rights of people, then it must
exist by human decree to serve the temporal, human-given rights of people. These rights, of course, are by definition
elastic. If man is the originator of
human rights, then those rights are not really “rights” at all. They are privileges, given to people at the
whim of those in authority at the time.
If rights aren’t God-given, then they are merely the preferences
expressed either by political leaders or the majority of the population. What, then, is to stop a government from
changing certain “rights” as happen to suit its particular needs? One day, you might have the right to a fair
trial, but the next, the government may be executing even suspected
criminals. If certain fundamental rights
do not come from God, then we have no recourse against such tyranny, whether it
exists in the form of totalitarian dictatorships or democratic vote. The logical consequence of the modern view is that our rights are gifts of the
government, to be altered and twisted however the government (and/or the majority) sees fit.
This sad
truth is most evident today with respect to the first of Jefferson’s stated
“inalienable” rights – the right to life.
Both the Declaration and Genesis declare that the primary right that
government exists to secure is the fundamental right of innocent people to
live. If the right to life is not
primary, then all other rights lose their significance. After all, what good is the right to free
speech if the next guy is equally free to kill you? It is only because we have the right to live
that we can even begin talking about these other rights.
It is clear
that our nation has drifted steadily, sometimes spectacularly, away from
Jefferson’s expressed view. Our rights
are no longer seen as God-given and inalienable. They are now seen to be the result of
majority vote, which can be changed as the political winds dictate. As a consequence, the government does not
serve the purpose articulated by Jefferson – to secure these inalienable rights
(that, of course, do not exist today).
Instead, government serves one purpose – to secure its own future. This is admittedly a cynical view of things,
but experience has shown that government is primarily interested in doing
whatever it takes to consolidate its power.
Again, as Reagan has said, “Because no government ever voluntarily
reduced itself in size, government programs once launched never go out of existence. A government agency is the nearest thing to
eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”[3] Government seeks more and more power and
control, and as it succeeds in this mission, it erodes the purpose for which it
was founded in the first place.
What should
we do about this? The only recourse the
colonists saw was to rebel against a tyrannical monarch. In the United States, we live in a republic,
and as such, we have the right to rebel at the ballot box. Every election cycle, we have the opportunity
to revolt against a government that has clearly lost its way and has misused
and abused its power. We can restore our
government to what it was originally created to do.
I am not
suggesting a theocracy. Our government
does not need to consist of all religious men and women, or follow
word-for-word the pages of the Bible.
However, we have seen what has happened as our government has left its
roots behind. What we need is a return
to the Jeffersonian principles on which this nation was founded. In Jefferson’s own words, “Can the liberties
of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a
conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of
God?”[4]
[1]
Ronald Reagan, The Official Ronald Wilson Reagan Quotebook,
Chain-Pinkham Books, St. Louis Park, MN, 1980, pg. 48.
[2]
John W. Whitehead, The Second American Revolution, Crossway Books,
Westchester, IL, 1982, pg. 96.
[3]
Ronald Reagan, The Official Ronald Wilson Reagan Quotebook,
Chain-Pinkham Books, St. Louis Park, MN, 1980, pg. 28.
[4]
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virgina, 1782.
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