The fourth of July is coming - one of my favorite holidays because it means so much. It’s not simply marking a celestial event, selling Hallmark cards or pagan fertility gods. The Fourth marks the day when a government based on natural law, with almost no central authority, highly skeptical of government intervention in both the economy and in the affairs of other nations, was born. A real grand social experiment in freedom, flying in the face of monarchies and mercantilism - and thousands of years of governments with too much power vested in themselves.
It is critical to understand the nature of the Declaration. In fact it was “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” which compelled the declaration in the first place. It was these laws that were being violated and these laws which should reign supreme.
In more specific terms, Thomas Jefferson outlines examples of such laws and the rights that are derived from these laws:
…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.
Note that there has yet to be a discussion about government in the document. This is how Jefferson saw nature existing pre-government - that rights are not derived from government but from God’s nature and nature’s law. Rights of life, liberty and property come from nature, not government - from the equality and image in which God first created us. Only after rights are established in nature does government enter in “to secure these rights”
This is so valid to the situation in which the spawn of Jefferson and men of similar disposition finds itself in today. The US is in Iraq right now, for example, to liberate and provide freedom to individuals. This is a direct contradiction with Jefferson’s view of where human rights come from - not codes, agreements, constitutions or institutions, but from nature and nature’s God. Liberation is not the job of governments, but of people. Governments secure rights - they don’t dole them out in the form of social programs or wars of liberation.
This is what I celebrate when I consider the Fourth. I celebrate my rights and freedoms - not thanking the government, not thanking the military (certainly not thanking politicians) but thanking God for breathing life into me and for providing rational laws governing his creation.
Thanks for remembering the ideals that I find most true and patriotic, and helping celebrate and remember the birth of a free society. Here’s to independence day!
Dennis Prager suggests a great way to remember the 4th today.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2007/07/03/america_needs_a_july_fourth_seder?page=full&comments=true
I really liked that article, Darius. The way holidays have begun degrading is something I’ve really noticed in the last few years. I think the responsibilty lies in the individual & familes to make them more important rather than the city to have parades, etc. I remember holidays being huge events when I was young. So, Hubby & I need to make similar efforts with our daughter.