The source of legitimate authority is God, not man. This is the core truth declared in the American Declaration of Independence that makes it a transcendent proclamation for all men, for all time. Recognizing this truth renders abhorrent human authority assumed without the consent of those under its direction, as well as authority administered arbitrarily, indifferent to the God-given dignity of each and every individual.
Those who reject the notion of God, or of the supremacy of eternal truths over relative perceptions of reality, reject the Declaration. Indeed its authors cited the Almighty in four instances: “Nature’s God,” “their Creator,” ”Supreme Judge of the World,” and “Divine Providence.” For many in modern society, this is an unpalatable understanding of the Declaration. Therein lays the key to the anemic state of American liberty today.
A self-governing people who have lost sight of their Creator as the source of true authority will no longer look to themselves as the agents primarily responsible for their own welfare, but to that which most conspicuously claims the guise of authority: government. And government that has lost a genuine fear of the Supreme Judge of the World will not long tolerate limits placed on its authority; inevitably devolving into the very affront to human dignity the Declaration was authored to denounce: tyranny.
For those perplexed by intensifying objections to the current trajectory of government in America, reflecting on this may provide some insight.
Addendum: After having composed the above, we were enlightened by our dear friend, Mr. Jonah Goldberg, to what he considers, "just about the best thing ever written for or about Independence Day, save the Declaration itself." After reading it we quite agree and are pleased to learn that the thoughts of President Calvin Coolidge, some 84 years ago, so closely correspond to our own. Enjoy! Calvin Coolidge on the American Declaration of Independence.
A most heartfelt Happy Birthday America to you all!
Cheers,
Charlie
3 comments:
As usual Charlie comes through with the some of the best commentary on the Internet. Thanks for the refresher on Calvin Coolidge's thoughts I had forgotten all about it (I think it was over 50 years ago that I read Cal's excellent piece of work).
What concerns me today is that which President Coolidge made reference to during our fragile beginnings:
"It was in no sense a rising of the oppressed and downtrodden. It brought no scum to the surface, for the reason that colonial society had developed no scum. The great body of the people were accustomed to privations, but they were free from depravity. ..."
"It brought no scum to the surface." An astute observation indeed! For what differentiates us from our Godfearing forefathers is our present day Godless scum bags that somehow escaped the toilet's flush and float freely on the surface of America destroying everything in its path.
Norm
ps: Just to reassure the reader that nameless Godless scumbags mentioned above do have names I was not trying to be politically correct by omitting them. They are the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the biggest piece of scum creating crap that ever floated to the surface, Barack Husein Obama.
Coolidge's birthday just happened to be July 4th.
Thank you both for your kind and interesting addendums. A Happy 4th to you all!
Cheers,
Charlie
Post a Comment