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The most recognizable phrase in the The Declaration of Independence is, "All men are created equal." The most recognizable phrase in the United States Constitution is, "We the People of the United States."
These phrases are surrounded by language that we are not as familiar with, and should be, for in those other phrases the truth of our American System lies.
In the eyes of the Creator, through Natural Law, we are all equally loved by Him, cared for by Him, and each and every one of us He desires to come to Him and spend eternity with Him after our short lives here on Earth have come to an end.
To the Founding Fathers, it was "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 [property]."
The conditions in the United States at the time of the writing of the Declaration were hardly "godly". A war between the British Empire, and States united for a single purpose of Liberty in America, was raging. Slavery was still an institution in both Europe, and the New World. Equality in the eyes of government was but a distant hope and dream.
Jefferson did not write the phrase "All men are created equal" because of the conditions in place as a result of the governments of men. He wrote "All men are created equal" because when it came to the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God, all men are.
According to the Declaration of Independence, the "powers of the earth" are our "entitlement" because of the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Natural Law. As a result of Natural Law, we "all" have Natural Rights, which include, but are not limited to, "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." These things are as self-evident as it is self-evident to a mother to care for her child.
"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 Laws of Nature and of Nature's God is Natural Law. We have Natural Rights as a result of Natural Law. We all have the natural right to Life, Liberty and Property. "Pursuit of Happiness" was used instead of property to broaden the message, but Thomas Jefferson originally wrote "property" instead of "pursuit of happiness."
John Locke, an English political philosopher, tended to put "Life, Liberty and Property" in his writings, as did James Madison in Federalist Paper #45.
All of our Natural Rights stem from our fundamental rights to Life, Liberty and Property.
First Amendment: We recognize that the rights were given to us by the Creator, therefore, we have religious rights. We have the right to speak in defense of our right to Life, Liberty and Property, so we have the right to the Freedom of Speech. We have the right to use a media that can spread our speech to a broader audience in defense of our religious liberties, and our right to Life, Liberty and Property, therefore, we have a right to the Freedom of the Press. We have a right to peaceably assemble with like-minded individuals so as to defend our right to Life, Liberty and Property. If government seeks to interfere with our Life, Liberty and Property we have the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Second Amendment: We have a right to protect our right to Life, Liberty and Property against any and all who may attempt to take away those rights, including against a tyrannical government. Therefore, we have a right to keep and bear arms.
And so on, and so on.
These are all our "Natural Rights."
"To secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Because of government, we have laws which are proposed by representatives, law enforcement in place to execute those laws, and emergency services to assist us when disaster strikes. These services created by a government of the people, for the people, and by the people are government's way of securing our rights to Life, Liberty and Property.
Government, however, is not populated by the Creator, and angels, but by men who are vulnerable to their own human nature. It is possible for government to become destructive because the men in government often abandon Natural Law (the rule of law), and instead pursue the unnatural whims of society, the greed for power by political figures, and the false interpretations of the law by judicial personages. Such a path is not the Rule of Law, but instead is the Rule of Man. When this happens, and our Natural Rights become endangered by the unnatural law of the Rule of Man, "it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it [government], 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."
The job of the federal government is not to interfere with our Life, Liberty and Property, but to "form a more perfect union [because the prior constitution, Articles of Confederation, fell short], establish Justice [due process], insure domestic Tranquility [act as a mediator between the States when there is a dispute between the States], provide for the common defense [from enemies both foreign and domestic], promote the general Welfare [a condition of all's well throughout the country], and secure the Blessings of Liberty [Life, Liberty and Property] to ourselves and our Posterity [those not yet born]."
Otherwise, government is nothing more than unnatural law.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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