“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. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
In two sentences, Thomas Jefferson distilled two centuries of Enlightenment Philosophy.
The truths of which he speaks are, according to Jefferson, so fundamental and not needing explanation as to be self-evident.
It is self-evident that there is a “Creator”
It is self-evident that humans are endowed by that Creator with unalienable rights, meaning that man cannot take them away, as they come from God.
It is self-evident that these rights begin with the most fundamental of all-Life.
It is self-evident that the next two follow in logical sequence: Liberty, and then the Pursuit of Happiness.
It is self-evident that the role of government is to protect those three greatest rights.
It is self-evident that the people reserve the right to alter or abolish that government if it becomes destructive of those rights.
We have seriously lost our way.
November 2012 is coming.
Coming Home 
a poignantly succinct and timely reminder Gerard. Thanks
For anyone not aware-
1. ALL US House seats (including Ms. Pelosi, Speaker of the House) are up for election-435 total on Nov 2.
quick breakdown map here; click on your state
http://www.opensecrets.org/races/index.php
or enter your state
http://www.votesmart.org/election_congress.php
2. Addi tonally, some important Senate races will be decided this day -Mr. Reid in NV, Mr. Ms. Boxer in CA et al. See this in depth wiki for a color coded map and itemized breakdown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2010
The important thing is: remember to vote on Nov 2, regardless of the weather, even personal commitments etc; if possible try early voting; or if needed, request an absentee ballot in time.
The House can be regained and a Senate filibuster-proof arrangement enacted this coming Nov.
The elections this November and in 2012 are only a part of the solution. We still have to contend with those fools who voted the current crop of politicians into office. They won’t magically smarten up just by losing an election.
Our culture has lost all sense of morality, our children have no grasp of history (he who does not remember it will repeat it), our churches are headed up by political lapdogs lacking any real spine (that includes other denominations besides the Catholic Church). The list goes on.
It will take decades of work to repair, we’d better get to it and forget the desire for a quick fix.
Gerald,
One of my favorite quotes is from Calvin Coolidge:
“About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.”
I had never read the speech these words came from, but just did now:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Calvin_Coolidge%27s_Speech_on_the_Occasion_of_the_150th_Anniversary_of_the_Declaration_of_Independence
This speech is chock full of wisdom. This quote is prophetic:
“The things of the spirit come first. Unless we cling to that, all our material prosperity, overwhelming though it may appear, will turn to a barren sceptre in our grasp. If we are to maintain the great heritage which has been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the fathers who created it. We must not sink into a pagan materialism. We must cultivate the reverence which they had for the things that are holy…..”
Amen, brother Gerry!
As usual, timely, honorable and useful.
How did our people go so astray as to elect a group of politicians who have erroded the very fabric that this nation was founded upon. Are we a nation of people that are so self-serving that we fail to see that once our basic, and yes, self-evident, unalienable, rights are cast aside, nothing serves anyone to any good. There cannot be any life, liberty or happiness if we lose sight of the fact that these “rights” are gifts from above and that everyone including government must ensure these rights are protected.
Those of us who know and understand that our Creator gave us these rights, not our government or our fellow man, must speak up loudly and clearly, and point out that if these “self- evident rights are allowed to fall by the wayside, we are all in serious perill. Even those who think that their “agendas” (even if at the expense of other’s) are most important, must be made to realize that over time, they, too, will be in the position of being denied what they value most, their own self-serving needs.
We have a tough job ahead of us. Unfortunately, not only are those who have not studied history being led astray down a path to destruction, but many who do know history are turning a blind eye to it. If we, as a nation, are not careful, not only will we lose our ability to persue happiness, but we will lose our very lives. We will have beurocratic, self-serving. strangers making decisions about our health, our lives and our deaths. We will have our ability to maintain and preserve our health and our very lives threatened.
November is around the corner and I pray that voters will be alert, keep their eyes and ears open, and not forget that if we do not make some serious changes, we are on a slippery slope to self destruction.