The second paragraph of America’s Declaration of Independence begins with these words: “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….”
These are famous words that express the heart and soul of our government. They serve as a rock solid foundation upon which our governing principles and practices are built—a foundation which we are eroding and dismantling. How so?
Break it apart.
First questionable Foundational Assumption: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident.”
This is an expression of the belief-in and acceptance-of “Truth Absolute.” Self-evident Absolute Truth is inviolable, unchanging, and universal—true for all people at all times and in all places.
But today we are relativists. Today we believe in your truth and my truth, personal truth, social truth, cultural truth, relative truth. It seems that few today are willing to embrace the idea of Absolute Truth. Relative Truth is neither self-evident nor universal—it is time specific and locally defined, demarcated by situation and context—being contextual, it is subject to change.
Consequential erosion: If there is only Relative Truth, perhaps we humans really are not all that equal after all, and we need not support laws that presume as much (note how slaves were excluded from rights of equality at the time, then seen as somewhat sub-human).
Second questionable Foundational Assumption: “that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
See the words “created” and “Creator”? Today these words must be struck-out. For they offend many. Today many believe that we are NOT created: we are evolved. We are a chance happen-stance of inanimate, non-sentient substance smashing together and accidentally becoming. There is no intentional First Cause, no Intelligent Design, and thus no premeditated and purposeful act of creation. Thus, we are here by accident. That being the case, we are answerable to no God, no Creator, no intelligent purpose or intent. Therefore, we determine for ourselves what is right and good, as well as for whom and to what end. We are our own gods.
Consequence: Might makes right—survival of the fittest. There are in fact no God-given guarantees of so-called “unalienable rights.” Our so-called unalienable rights are determined by humans for humans. In effect, no longer granted by a Creator, rights are defined by those in charge, the powerful, asserted with the exercise of brute force with a winner-take-all mentality. It is Nature’s way.
Third questionable Foundational set of Assumptions: “that among these [Rights] are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
But what is Life? Who defines Life? How is Life’s beginning and ending to be determined? Answer: We humans define life.
Consequence: With no God in the picture, we humans determine Life’s beginning and ending. And notice the mess we’ve made of it. On the one hand, we expend billions of dollars in medical technology, medicine, and apparatuses to save preemie-babies born with heretofore fatal congenital birth defects, which, if they survive, will require a lifetime of special medical care and major expense above and beyond the average person. Meanwhile, in the same hospital, in another room, we use the same medical expertise to take-out and throw-away unwanted healthy fetuses, casually discarding unwanted humans-in-the-making. Likewise at the other end of life, we expend hundreds of thousands of dollars on 93 year-old Granny to extend her life a few more months if not a few weeks, while we let thousands of children and young adults die for lack of basic adequate preventative healthcare, due to their inability to pay. So what does this so-called right to pursue Life really mean?
And what is Liberty? Is it license to do what we please, when we please, how we please? NO? Who’s to say? Isn’t it because you are bigger, smarter, taller, older, wealthier, and more powerful than me that you can stop me from doing what I want to do over against what you want me to do? After all, are we humans not the one’s defining our own rights? So, if and when I become more powerful than you, will I not then have the freedom to define what’s right for you in terms of what I think is best for us? Isn’t that the way the game is really played?
And what is happiness? Is happiness all about wealth—he who dies with the most toys wins!? Is happiness pursued by amassing as much wealth and power as one can get—by any means? Is happiness to be earned at the expense of others? It makes sense to me, if the fundamental truth is now “the survival of the fittest.”
What are your Truth Assumptions? Whether admitted or not, every society, every generation, everyone, begins with a set of a priori assumptions (fundamental Givens or Truths). In effect, we do what we think, and act-out what we believe.
So what really are the fundamental assumptions of our American society today? Are these assumptions true? What are their practical consequences in terms of our chosen lifestyle and behavior? Do these basic assumptions serve to unite us or put us at odds with each other? Can two fundamentally differing world-views or truth-assumptions co-exist peacefully and constructively? One has to wonder.
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