Is the Declaration of Independence Relevant Today?

     A person’s goal in answering this important question should be to seek out the truth.  Truth is unchanging, it is immutable, and it is the only thing that we can depend on.  Our Declaration of Independence is unquestionably relevant and extremely important to today’s society.

     It was 233 years ago that the Second Continental Congress approved and signed the Declaration.  It was chiefly the work of the great mind of Thomas Jefferson.  He stated that it was “an expression of the American mind.”  The ideas articulated in the Declaration are what caused Patriots to give their lives for freedom.

     The Constitution is the governing document of our federal government but is that enough?  There are three things that the Declaration has in it that the Constitution does not mention.  These three things are one-hundred percent necessary if government is going to function as God intended it to.

     The first thing is that without the Declaration Americans have no guarantee of liberty because only in the Declaration do we find the source of that liberty articulated.

     “…all men are endowed by their Creator…”  Jefferson was clear, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness does not come from the government, it does not come from your neighbor, and it is not merely something we possess, it is given to each individual by God Himself.  Moreover, because of this fact no one can take it away.

     If it were not for the Declaration of Independence, America would not exist as we know it today.  Total anarchy would have been our demise long ago because without absolutes man is no longer bound by moral constraints and freely does his own will no matter what harm is done to others.

    The second thing that we find in the Declaration, that we do not see addressed in our Constitution is that is the purpose of government.  Why do we need a system of government in the first place?  Jefferson wrote that we have the inalienable, God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness but the way that these rights are preserved is through government.

     “…to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men…”  The whole purpose of government is to preserve the rights of the citizens that are under it.  Government should do nothing more and government should do nothing less.  It is through this principle that we find the fallacy of some current philosophies such as government controlled healthcare, government take-over and control of businesses, government sponsored abortions, and the list goes on.

     Thirdly, Jefferson did not just stop at what government is supposed to do; he also told how government gets that power.  “…deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”  The people are the only reason government has any power at all.  When government oversteps its bounds it is the responsibility of the people to do something about it.  This is done primarily through the process of voting for our elected officials.  Samuel Adams said, “Let each citizen remember at the moment that he is offering his vote, that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.  He should then appeal to his conscience that he has not trifled with that sacred trust.”

     I hope that you have seen through this that the Declaration of Independence is vital to the survival of the American Dream. In the Declaration we find our guarantee of freedom, the purpose for our government, and how our government gets its power. Countless patriots have spilled their blood on the altar of freedom to give us what we have today, to give us America. It is up to today’s Patriots to preserve and protect what our Fathers handed down to us.