What glorious words these are. How grateful we should be for living in a country where we have freedom of expression and where all of us are to be treated as equals. How thankful we should be to the founders of this nation, who made sure that the premises and constitution of our new country reflected those principles in every way. Those words of the Declaration of Independence, formed initially by Thomas Jefferson, stir our souls. They ring with the truth that all humans, in order to live well, must be free from the tyranny of oppression, and free from prejudgment. Every human, it states, has the divine right to be treated as an equal. This month, we again celebrate, with fervor, our gift to be a citizen in this land, where all of us have freedom and equality. Once again, here are those words which began this new democracy, and in which we rejoice every year at this time.
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them to 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.
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, receiving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That when any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to end or 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. Providence indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more inclined to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
These are stirring words indeed, but they are also, rather immediately, very puzzling. We are not free at all. In order to obtain the fulfillment of our obligations and goals, we are obliged to live in societies with other people; that obligation then immediately imposes multiple restrictions upon us. Every parent imposes multiple rules on their children, which we must follow or get punished. Every neighborhood has its local customs, for which we are shunned, if we do not follow them. Every town has its local laws, which, if not followed, lands us in front of a judge, or thrown in jail. Every state has its restrictions on what we can or can’t do in that state, or pay a penalty. The federal government not only has multiple laws which control how we conduct our lives in multiple ways, but has recently severely restricted our civil liberties. It has stuck its fingers in, and established eyes and ears, that observe everything we say or do, and monitor our bank accounts. We are free? That’s a laugh, if you like irony.
And we are unequivocally not equal. The words “human” and “equal” are a complete contradiction in terms. If any one of us is injected with cells from another human, our body will immediately react to those cells, recognizing them as “not self,” setting up a fierce battle against them to kill them. Even identical twins are different In some ways, by means of gene expression. We are each a unique individual, who is completely like no other, with different weaknesses, strengths and beliefs. The last thing on earth we are is equal. For our founders to believe that all of us were created equal is also a real belly laugh, if you love irony.
There is the additional great irony that this grand declaration of the freedom and equality of men, referred only to men. Thomas Jefferson fully expressed his opinion in writing that blacks were inferior to whites, and he further treated the political opinions of all women with disdain. Jefferson, in other words, in spite of this glorious declaration of freedom and equality, fully intended those attributes to apply only to men. He did not in any way intend to use this word as a generic term to apply to all humans. That philosophy was completely supported by those others who signed that document, and who fully believed that all other humans were inferior to men, and that men only, were free and equal.
The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America is, for those reasons, a declaration of great hypocrisy. How could something so ludicrously wrong feel so right? Thomas Jefferson based his pronouncements that all men are free and equal on Divine right. The problem is, we are sure that we are not free, in any way we look at it; we are also sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we are not equal to any other human. The universal freedom and equality of humans, established as a divine right, as is declared by Jefferson and the signers of The Declaration of Independence, is for those reasons an immense lie. One has to wonder then, why it rings so true for us, as a statement which should guide all of our social lives.
It is because this declaration of independence, while a complete failure if based on divine provenance, is a shining star if interpreted as a human value system. As a statement of human morality, this document is a brilliant example, without peer, of how a moral society should behave. A moral society follows those dictates of our Judaic, Christian and Islamic seers, best expressed by those words of Jesus, that we should love our Creator with all our heart, soul, mind and body, and love our neighbor as ourselves. That neighbor, by the way, is not just our near neighbor, but also our far neighbor and our enemy. That means that all of us on the face of the planet earth are neighbors, and that each of us should afford all others that equal freedom of opportunity to achieve our own individual goals, in spite of our unique individuality. The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America is the social epitome of those best morals found in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and leaves out their terrible flaws. It is the practical means of following those dictates which tell us to love our creator with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and love all our neighbors, near, far and enemies, as ourselves.