What is the foundation of America?

What is the foundation of America?

by "EarsToHear"

"The Declaration of Independence...[is the] declaratory charter of our rights, and the rights of man."
Thomas Jefferson (letter to Samuel Adams Wells, 12 May 1821)

On August 1, 1776, Samuel Adams stood before a large crowd on the steps of the Philadelphia Statehouse and delivered a speech before the formal signing of the Declaration Of Independence on August 2, 1776.

In his speech he stated:

"We have explored the temple of Royalty and found that the idol that we have bowed down to has Eyes which see not, Ears that hear not our Prayers, and a heart like the nether millstone. We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom alone all men ought to be obedient; He reigns in Heaven, and with a propitious Eye beholds His subjects assuming that freedom of thought, and dignity of self direction, which He bestowed upon them. From the rising to the setting Sun, may His Kingdom come."

Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:37-40

In the same manner, the Constitution and Bill of Rights hang on Jefferson's first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence.

James Madison, the primary writer, and the one who provided the original draft of the Constitution, wrote to Thomas Jefferson in the year of the Declaration�s 50th anniversary, he wrote of its supremacy over our nation�s Constitution:

�On the distinctive principles of the Government...of the U. States, the best guides are to be found in...The Declaration of Independence, as the fundamental Act of Union of these States.�

"Before any man can be considered as a member of Civilized Society, he must first be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe." President James Madison, June 20, 1785

"To grant that there is a supreme intelligence who rules the world and has established laws to regulate the actions of his creatures; and still to assert that man, in a state of nature, may be considered as perfectly free from all restraints of law and government, appears to a common understanding altogether irreconcilable. Good and wise men, in all ages, have embraced a very dissimilar theory. They have supposed that the deity, from the relations we stand in to himself and to each other, has constituted an eternal and immutable law, which is indispensably obligatory upon all mankind, prior to any human institution whatever. This is what is called the law of nature....Upon this law depend the natural rights of mankind." Alexander Hamilton

The opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence in which Thomas Jefferson also provided the draft for the Declaration):

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." The second paragraph continues: 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...."

"Unalienable rights" are "entitled" if they do not violate "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" which lays out the boundaries and rules for America's Laws, just as athletes are "entitled" to play according to the boundaries and rules of their sport. Otherwise there would be chaos. Civil Rights and Liberties are "entitled" by "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Yet marriage is being redefined and schools are now teaching our children that which "goes against nature" is normal. What then is the real "hate crime?" Being out of the boundaries of "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," as is homosexuality, depicts the chaos in the facts and consequenses of that lifestyle. Or did Thomas Jefferson write the opening paragraph in vain, but not a letter to the Baptists?

What is the "new and improved" basis in determining how "Rights" are "entitled?" What new wisdom is being employed? Has the word "nature" also been redefined to a new an improved "politically correct" secular liberal definition which excludes "moral virtue," responsibility and commitment?

"The moral precepts delivered in the sacred oracles form a part of the law of nature, are of the same origin and of the same obligation, operating universally and perpetually." James Wilson (Of the Law of Nature, 1804) Reference: The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, Wilson, ed., vol. 1 (137-138)

Justice William O. Douglas of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1961 case of McGowan vs. Maryland: "The institutions of our society are founded on the belief that there is an authority higher than the authority of the State; that there is a moral law which the State is powerless to alter; that the individual possess rights, conferred by the Creator which government must respect. The Declaration Of Independence stated the now familiar theme: 'We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.' And the body of the Constitution as well as the Bill of Rights enshrined these principles." (The following year, prayer was removed from schools.)

"Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other. The divine law, as discovered by reason and the moral sense, forms an essential part of both." James Wilson - Reference: The Works of James Wilson, McCloskey, ed., 125.

The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. John F. Kennedy