![life liberty and pursuit of happiness life liberty and pursuit of happiness](https://uy.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/113/AMB-Message-FeaturedImage-750x450-1.png)
Life: It was the Bible that taught them the sacredness of human life (Leviticus 24:17, Psalm 139:13–16). But the men who constructed the United States and crafted all of our founding documents and took such great personal risks (like committing capital treason) in order to launch a nation built on the foundations of these truths were indelibly shaped by the Bible, whether or not they personally believed its claims.Ĭreator: It was the Bible that gave our founders their general consensus of Judeo-Christian monotheism (Deuteronomy 6:4).Īll Men: It was the Bible that gave them such a strong sense of the importance of the individual - every individual (Isaiah 45:23, Philippians 2:10). Yes, Greek philosophy was influential too. But where did this vision for the dignity and freedom of all human beings come from? Jerusalem - by which I mean the Bible. We know that our democratic republican form of government has its origins in Athens and Rome and various other Western democratic experiments. May God grant that it helps fuel the overcoming of 41 years of legalized violation of the unalienable right to life of unborn men and women. So powerful is this statement that it has, over time and through blood, sweat, and tears, fueled (and is still fueling) the overcoming of various kinds of racial, gender, and economic injustices in the nation itself. In the annals of history, it truly is a revolutionary statement: every human being has God-given rights to live, be free, and pursue their happiness. It is among the greatest sentences ever written regarding what a civil government exists to preserve and protect. 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. What was it that drove our national founders to seek independence? What was the Big Idea behind the United States? I think it is captured in the first sentence of paragraph two of the Declaration: This might be a good summer to read 1776 by David McCullough. Looking back over 238 years, with America now an affluent global superpower, it’s hard for Americans to get a sense for just how unlikely (humanly speaking) it was that the 13 United States of America defeated Great Britain in a war and survived as an independent nation. Regardless, it was a bold, very risky move for the signers of the Declaration. People still debate over whether or not Britain’s offenses warranted colonial secession and war. July 4th is the day we commemorate the Continental Congress’s declaration of independence from the nation of Great Britain.