Last time we looked at the most important sentence in the Declaration of Independence and spent roughly 100 sentences analyzing it. It may be disproportional but I liked it. You can find that analysis here. Now that we established that all men are created equal now let's see what the equality entails in the next of Jefferson's self-evident "truths".. "...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Once again Jefferson and the Founding Father's complicated relationship Christianity are put on full display.
If you Google "endow" then you will get synonyms like "give", "bequeath". All men are given a gift of unalienable rights, not by government, not by society but by "their Creator". Notice he did not say "God" or even "the" Creator, he said "their Creator". Is this a universal affirmation of tolerance and acceptance? Whatever religion you believe, that deity is what created you? Maybe Jefferson's intention was not as universal as one might imagine today but again the ambiguity of the phrase has left the Declaration open to interpretation. If nothing else it does have a strong Christian undertone with the word "endow", God's gift to us besides Jesus dying on the cross are the rights installed in our humanity. Let's think about these rights for a second. Jefferson describes them as "certain" and "unalienable", these are the opening salvos we are endowed with by the Declaration. Certain is important because it gives it clarity and distinction. Once again Jefferson is making this a "truth", something that is beyond opinion or scrutiny because it is fact. Unalienable is perhaps one of the most important words used in this document. Why? The Founding Fathers could have used synonyms like "undeniable", "permanent", "universal" but "unalienable" brings up the opposite "alien". Jefferson is claiming that no one is an alien to these rights. Outside of sci-fi films there is only one context when we use the term alien in our vernacular. Immigration. Aliens, particularly illegal aliens, are an often debated and contested issue in social, political and economic circles across the United States. The first incendiary comment made by Presidential candidate Donald Trump pertained to these aliens crossing the border. The juxtaposition of these two realities beg the question: Should these aliens be give inalienable rights by our government? The concept of natural laws are, by definition, pre-government. It is a concept that even the state cannot wither away. Yet, in practice, this does not seem to be the case. Clearly these aliens, malevolent or not, are seeking their own pursuit of happiness. Many want the opportunity to live and live under the freedoms of the United States. What role does the government have in allowing this? Particularly if they are violating the law? If everyone is endowed with these rights, does everyone have the danger for them to be taken away? Is this a gift or a loan? Are they conditional? If they are, who gets to rescind the contract? It seems that would be up to the "Creator" who gave them, not the government or the people, right? Identity is such a key part to our existence that saying these rights unite all of us not only create a strong sense of community but many existential problems as a result. How do we deal with governments that try to separate us by making these rights conditional? Apparently, according to the Founding Fathers, by rebelling. In reality, this document deals more with identity than anything else. We are uniting under a new identity and shedding the old. We unite under universal rights and fight back against those who would deny them to any man. Jefferson never uses the word "universal" or "natural" even if he insinuates at them. "Inalienable" has a special place in our lexicon and in the phrasing of this document. "..that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." One word I bet most people would leave out is perhaps the most important: among. So wait, there are other inalienable rights besides the three scribed by Jefferson? This is such a critical aspect to remember but I think most Americans ignore this fact. After all, three is a rather powerful number, especially in the Biblical scriptures that backdrop this entire Declaration. Three days towards the resurrection, three wise men, and the Trinity itself all show the importance of the number three. Jefferson is singling out these three "among" the others. What are the others or to steal a line from a comment on a previous post, what should not be an inalienable right? By writing the word "among", Jefferson is once again leaving his document open and available to future generations. While Americans have often dealt with the three rights listed and the idea of equality, rarely have we gone through the intellectual exercise of articulating what else should be "among" these rights. It might be a conversation worth having. At the very least it should give you something to think about on your Monday. Next time we will take our time on each of the three inalienable rights.
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