Independence Day: America’s Original Documents
by With July four right around the corner, and the many anti-Christian comments being repeatedly publicized, it seemed a good time to do a little research on the foundational documents of this country.
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With the celebration of Independence Day for the United States of America just around the corner, it seemed like a good time to review the United States Constitution and other documents. A constitution is defined as a set of rules for a government that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. It defines fundamental political principles, the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of a government. It also normally outlines the rights of the people governed by that government.
Was our country founded upon the principles of an Almighty God?
The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson, with the input of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, in June of 1776. It is a declaration of the political ideals of individual liberty that John Locke and the Continental philosophers had stated, and to which the majority of Americans ascribed. It then listed for the world the grievances America held against the British, and their justification in breaking political ties with them.
In the preamble of the Declaration it states; “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….” In the conclusion it affirms that “for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence….” The document was ratified by twelve of the thirteen existing colonies and declared accepted on July 4, 1776, signaling the official birth of a nation. By August the official draft was complete, the thirteenth colony had approved, and the document was signed by a majority of the representatives of the Continental congress.
The United States constitution was not written until 1787. Its purpose was mostly to define both the responsibilities and the limits of government over the people it served. It also included a bill of rights which listed the rights of the people that were considered to be unalienable.
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Post CommentGeorge W Whitehead
On July 1, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Well thought out, Maranatha.
Lady Sunshine
On July 2, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Interesting and well-written article.
Yovita Siswati
On July 3, 2009 at 6:20 am
Interesting history lesson.
OhSugar
On July 9, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Excellent post. I enjoy reading about our country’s history.
Stephen J. Ardent
On July 25, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Good article. If you want a good read some time try “The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States” by Benjamin F. Morris. It’s wealth of information that many people wish would go out of print.
clafleur
On July 30, 2009 at 5:25 pm
You quoted, “endowed by thier creator” and i am under the impression that the key word is creator which equates to God. But thats just my 2 cents.
S A JOHNSON
On July 31, 2009 at 7:54 pm
@ clafleur it does say “their” creator and because government is not supposed to interfere with anyone’s religious or lack of beliefs, it is correct. Because creator can mean god or it can mean, exactly what it says because not all people who believe in creators believe it in a religious sense. Also I do get your point, because I don’t believe it should say that at all because many are atheist.
I think that many people go after Christians because it seems that the majority of people “ruling” our country are of a Christian based religion and because people are raised to be who they are, they usually take a long with them the belief system and there for their religion usually does the decision making for them.
Which seems to be a double edged sword because the government does not have the right to interfere with a persons belief system no matter what it is, it leaves the door open for religious or non religious beliefs to interfere with the government. Which I think shouldn’t happen but until people really want the change, it is what it is. Because seriously, I think we’re a long way from a Wiccan or someone similar to be running this country.
Fuck You and Fuck Jesus
On August 6, 2009 at 6:32 pm
God was considered so natural and self-evident that specific reference to Him was not considered particularly necessary.
The perfect description of the Deist God. Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin, George Washington and many other founding fathers were deists who believe that God is self evident in nature, and not in scriptures. That is why they don’t refer to a specific God.