This article ran at the Intellectual Conservative on July 4th, 2013.
What Baton Do We Pass On?
In the beginning of this nation, due to British rule, the idea of the United States was a whisper and a dream. The Puritans desire for religious and economic freedom is proclaimed in our Declaration with the terms, “… that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” and regarding economics, “For imposing taxes on us without our consent.”
The origin of a matter is always germane. We have a heritage that indicates who we are. All presidents swear to uphold the Constitution because our heritage is the Rule of Law.
The chaos and dysfunction that we now see at our open borders is not a part of our heritage. The winking of the eye at illegal activities is not who we set out to be in the beginning.
Our Declaration also says, “… that among these are Life…” referring to unalienable rights. Snuffing out a life in the womb means that life isn’t even given a chance at the, “… pursuit of happiness.”
Likewise, the principle that, “…all men are created equal…” can never be a license to promote immorality as the current simple-minded mantra regarding equality suggests. Equality in the Declaration is a profound reminder that kings (all rulers) are not divine and that there is a Creator who bestows that very equality.
Many say that we are “evolving” away from the founding principles of this nation. In some ways that might be true in that we have corrected some wrongs such a slavery and voting rights. But the illegality of an open border, the killing of our offspring in the womb, the onslaught of moral decay, and the trashing of the principles in our Constitution scream a protest that some of this evolving is in fact egregious error.
Parallel with life itself, our republic is at once amazingly resilient and amazing fragile. There are many strong delusions that plague America today. If we wish to enjoy continued, “…firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence…” as the Declaration says then we can no longer afford to elect evil men to represent our republic. This Independence Day we would do well to remember exactly what the Founders bestowed on us and our responsibility in passing the baton on to those who come after us.