“The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right; for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man.” – G.K. Chesterton What I Saw In America, 1922
Many secularists and atheists forget that our entire basis for democracy – that each person should have equal voice and equal rights – is based upon the fact that God created us equally in this regard. If God did not create us and endow us with these rights, if there is no higher law, then we have nothing to base our idea of equality on. Certainly evolution taken by itself says quite the opposite: That we are unequal. Some are created stronger and smarter than others. It is they who destroy, devour, and dictate as they please in this world.
But it is the submission to a higher law that Chesterton points out here which makes our U.S. constitutional law (and declaration of independence) so unique and uniquely successful. Unfortunately, this is a characteristic largely forgotten – and even rejected – by our modern day government.
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Ironically, the truth that all men are *not* created equal has been lost on society as a whole.
Just as the church is hierarchial, so too the society of man, and the level of respect to be bestowed.
Of course, the underlying truth that all have merit and dignity before God should not be lost, but I have, slowly, come to the realization that true egalitarianism sounds wonderful, but is not only wrong but impossible to implement in any realistic fashion.
I’ve been grappling with this one lately also. I mean, when our kids call someone “Sir” or “Ma’am” they get corrected. “Ohh no, you don’t need to call me that. That makes me feel old.” Well I’ve got news for you, honey, you are old! Compared to a kid you are a grown up and there’s a big difference. That is if the grown ups actually did grow up, which many don’t, but the respect for age should be there just the same. My kids respond, “I just want to give you the respect you deserve.” That shuts them up.
On the other hand, I just love the American Dream and so enjoy reading about so many of our Presidents who started out at the very bottom of the barrel. That would never happen in England or France, perhaps not even still today because of their class conciousness.
Balance—Virtue is a means between two extremes
This is interesting. In the UK we have a monarch who enjoys a superiority stemming from our faith. The idea that a ruler is chosen to rule by divine providence is embodied in one of the royal mottoes – “Dieu et mon droit” (God and my right).
This is the basis for leadership by inheritance, as the reasoning goes that the next in line to the throne is naturally appointed by God – who else has the power to choose someone from birth? Yet this would also offer a justification with a Christian hierarchy at odds with democracy.
Just a thought I had – I’m looking to the Bible for this one. Lucy you are right about the class issue in England by the way, perhaps it stems from the same history?