Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

USA Homeland Security

One of the founding Jeffersonian principles of our Republic is that the Government receives its consent from the people to enact and enforce laws to ensure our freedoms and liberty. The PEOPLE are not given their rights by the State, but rather the State is entrusted with the exercise of diligence by the people to safeguard their freedoms, liberty and rights from abuse. Words have meaning, and the meaning of a single word may change or the usage of a particular phrase may shift over time, but really understanding the original complete text in current language is often astonishing.

For a real eye opener, read the Declaration of Independence. Don't simply recite the words or mouth the syllables, but completely understand and contemplate the depth of its full meaning incorporating the original context in modern language.

A very courageous and poignant Thomas Jefferson wrote for the Continental Congress in 1776: "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."

Thomas Jefferson was a more eloquent and valiant man that I ever aspire to be, and his voluminous writings and opinions on the subject he was most passionate about - that of FREEDOM - are fully recorded for posterity. With archaic terms like unalienable, (which means "cannot be separated from, given, or taken away") and self-evident (which means "requires no evidence or explanation"), this founding document of our Republic is difficult to read and comprehend, yet each one of us can recite this part of the text verbatim. Even if we don't know what it really means.

I would believe that based upon what I have read of his character, and what he held most dear, that today President Jefferson would explain his writings thusly: "We as a people state as a matter of fact without evidence required by man, that no person is above the law or another individual by position, birth or wealth, that each person is given by God, Individual Rights and Liberties that cannot be taken away by any earthly authority, that among these are to live as they choose (Life) free from oppression (Liberty), believe, think and act as they would (Liberty - Freedom) and enjoy the fruits of their labors (Pursuit of Happiness - accumulation of property and wealth).

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James Childers (james@iqbio.net)