Did you know that the Declaration of Independence is America’s great religious document? The Declaration of Independence is the official and unequivocal recognition by the American people of our belief and faith in God. It affirms God’s existence as a “self-evident” truth that requires no further discussion or debate. The nation created by the great Declaration is God’s country. The rights it defines are God-given.
The Declaration of Independence contains five references to God — God as Creator of all men, God as supreme Lawmaker, God as Source of all rights, God as the world’s supreme Judge, and God as our Patron and Protector.
The Declaration of Independence declares that each of us was created. If we were created, we must have had a Creator. The Declaration of Independence declares that each of us is created equal. This means equal before God. It does not mean that all are born with equal capabilities, as obviously we are not. The modern discovery of DNA now confirms that each of God’s creatures is unequal and different from every other person who ever lived or ever will live on this earth.
The Declaration of Independence proclaims that life and liberty are the unalienable gifts of God — natural rights — which no person or government can rightfully take away. It affirms that the purpose of government is to secure our God-given unalienable individual rights, and that government derives its powers from the consent of the governed. For the first time in history, our Declaration reduced government from master to servant.
Knowledge of our Declaration of Independence should be required of all schoolchildren. They should also be taught that many of the men who signed it paid for their courage with their lives and fortunes. It’s our challenge to make sure that we maintain freedom and independence for our children.
