Note: Missouri state Rep. Darin Chappell, vice president of Veterans in Defense of Liberty, cowrote this column.
“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.” These words comprise the main thrust of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson for the Continental Congress, as a means by which a formal declaration to King George III informed him of the intent to establish a new nation free from his tyranny. It was not the beginning of the United States of America; a revolution would have to be won first, but it was the formal beginning of the idea that became our great nation.
How sad it is that these foundational premises have slipped the minds of so many, including those who would lead us. True, the Declaration holds no power of law, but it is the physical embodiment of the founding principles which our forefathers believed so strongly they were willing to fight the world’s only true superpower of the day. In the face of near-certain defeat, they stood up for liberty, regardless of the ultimate costs.
“Liberty” is a negative concept in that it is defined as the absence of control. Wherein liberty exists, governmental power cannot be found. It is, therefore, impossible for a government to grant, or create liberty, unless it is that government acts to restrict itself. This is a secondary purpose of the Declaration (the first being putting King George on notice of the loss of his colonies). The words of Jefferson set forth the idea that government has its rightful limitations and should have. Jefferson stated that it is the purpose to protect the rights of its Citizenry, and when it fails to do so, the People retain the right to remove such ineffectual government and replace it with another format of their choosing. When liberty is lost by an inattentive government or by the purposeful attack on liberty by the same, such a government has lost its way. A tyranny by the familiar is no less a tyranny, and liberty lost is tyrannical, by definition. It is not the opinion of this writer that we have reached the point of no return, but it is imperative that our leaders come to their senses and that, should they not, they be replaced by leaders who will guide us back to the tried and true basis of liberty.
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Of course, liberty is a danger all its own. If there is limited governmental control, and each is able to choose his own, so long as it does not betray the liberties of another, some will undoubtedly choose poorly. Some will bankrupt themselves; others will choose to addict themselves to harmful substances. Some will use their natural talents for evil, taking advantage of the unwary. This could all be avoided by using the power of government to “make things fair” or to “protect people from themselves” – but at what cost? If we are all at liberty to seek after our own best interests, surely we are better capable of making our own way than a distant, disinterested and incapable government. The Founders believed this, having lived their entire lives under the suffocating “concern” of Great Britain. With liberty, all things are possible. One may succeed or fail, but the opportunity to choose for one’s self is worth all the potential losses.
That the rights and liberties have come to us from our Creator is also extremely important to understand for our nation. While it is the case that the Founders did not all agree on the notion of what constitutes “the Creator,” they did all concede that none of them, collectively or individually, was the definition of right and wrong. There is a Higher Standard to which we must aspire in order to continue to improve and grow as a People. We, like the Founders, may disagree vehemently about the nature of God, but absent the common understanding that the concepts of right and wrong exist, wherein is liberty? Where is Freedom, and where is the ability to judge whether a government is just?
Too often, our leaders at the national, state, and local levels of government have no care for such principles. “Truth, Justice, Liberty and Right,” all based upon the premise of our Creator bestowing these upon us, not merely as Americans, but because we are human beings created in His image. Our rights are not ours because of the United States of America being established. The USA was established because our rights already existed and deserved to be protected from all who would abuse us from them. Our leaders have forgotten the meaning of liberty. They have forgotten the purpose of government. They have forgotten that they exist to serve the People rather than being served by them.
We celebrate this day, July 4th, as the birth of our nation. We applaud the ideals from which we sprang and those fearless, dedicated individuals who overcame all the odds. How can we ignore the fact that we, who stand upon the shoulders of those giants, seem all too willing to ignore the principles that allow us to be free? How can we permit the factional squabbling in Washington, D.C., to distract us from the continuing task of building upon our liberties to recreate the greatest nation on the face of the Earth?
This day should not be about cookouts, family gatherings, or ballgames alone. It should be about reverential gratitude to live in a nation based on such high ideals that it is difficult to attain all possible but so very worth the effort!
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