INSIDE:  We know these things are true.  These things are obvious.  They are self-evident.  These self-evident truths are a key part of the firm foundation that undergirds our form of government.     

For years, the young man had wanted to visit, and now he was finally here!  He stood and gazed out breathlessly at Mount Rushmore.  Seeing it in person, he was amazed at the remarkable skill of the sculptor.  The young man mentioned to another nearby visitor that he was anxious to tour the museum and learn more about how this amazing work was carved.  The other young man looked confused…  “Carved??  No, you don’t understand…  this wasn’t created by men, it was formed by natural wind and water erosion by random chance over millions of years…”

Say What??

I think I can interrupt our fictional story here…  If you have ever been to Mount Rushmore…  or even if, like me, you haven’t been there but have seen lots of pictures…   then you know it is preposterous to think that the amazing images of four United States Presidents just happened into the side of that mountain by random chance over millions of years.  Heck, the only thing crazier than that would be to believe the men themselves – whose images adorn that South Dakota mountainside – came about by random chance over millions of years… 

When we come across something like Mount Rushmore – or something like the glorious creation of God (Psalm 19:1) – we know it is clearly something designed and engineered, and artistically expressed.  We know it didn’t just happen – we know it was created!  We don’t need anyone to convince us – or prove to us – that the presidential forms on Mount Rushmore were carved into that mountain.  It is abundantly clear to any who would consider it!  In the Declaration of Independence, truths that need no proof are called “self-evident” truths. 

“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”

What are these truths that need no proof?  Several things are presented very clearly here in the Declaration, and they are self-evident.  Let’s take a look…

“…that all men are created equal”   First on the list, notice how men (or actually, “mankind”, or in today’s language we can just say “people”) arrived on the scene…  we were created!  So, like the images on Mount Rushmore OBVIOUSLY had a sculptor, mankind just as obviously has a Creator.  But it doesn’t stop there.  We were created “equal”. 

What does “Equal” mean? 

Does “equal” mean we all have the same hobbies, listen to the same kind of music, and enjoy the same kind of food?  Of course not!  Does it even mean we have the same amount of money and make the same decisions on how to earn, save, invest, give, receive, and spend our resources?  Of course not!  We all make different decisions every day, and those decisions may very well lead us in completely different directions from other people!  That’s ok…  We all have opportunity to do all these things.  These differences do not mean we aren’t equal…  In fact, they are a beautiful illustration that we ARE equal, and that we all have had freedom throughout our lives to make our own decisions.  We are equal in standing before God – and before the laws of men – there are no kings or royalty who have special status – but we certainly are all very different at the same time.  This equality is a self-evident truth.  We inherently know equality to be right.  It needs no proof or explanation.  If someone we know, or especially ourselves, are being treated unfairly, we are very much wired to easily be able to see that! 

What is Unequal? 

Unfortunately, this whole idea of equality is not only about people making different decisions.  There have also been examples in our nation’s history where the equality of people was intentionally suppressed, or outright denied to them by the institution of government itself.   At the time of the signing of the Declaration, it is true this foundational American concept of equality was not being followed across our nation, as evidenced by the evil of slavery and the slave trade.  Does the existence of that evil mean we shouldn’t be studying this great document, or the great nation it created?  I don’t think so… This is a conversation I often found myself in when I was running for School Board in my hometown.  I talked about it in the article, “Why are You Suppressing the Truth?”.

Most of the founders were against slavery and would like to have eliminated it from the beginning.  However, equality of men was still written into the Declaration and is still a foundational principle our nation was built upon.  As we consider this blemish on our national history, it is significant to note that within 31 years of signing the Declaration, the United States became the first nation in the world to ban the slave trade (Signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson on March 2, 1807), and within 90 years of signing the Declaration, the United States became the fourth nation in the world to ban slavery altogether (with ratification of the 13^th Amendment on December 6, 1865). Head over to WallBuilders for more info on this subject. FAQ: Founders and Slavery

It is clear we are not innocent of the evil of slavery, but it is also clear that since the time of our founding, we have sought to be a leader in fighting to make this self-evident truth of equality of men applicable to all. 

Unalienable Rights

We have been given unalienable rights by God.  The Declaration actually says “endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights”.  This is abundantly clear.  These rights are given by God – not by government.  “Unalienable” is a word we don’t use much nowadays, but it is important!  It means these rights cannot be taken away!  Unalienable rights have been written into God’s creation, and into the hearts of His people by God Himself!  They cannot be “alienated” from us, or taken away. 

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

We have discussed in several articles how to see and apply this idea of self-evident truths to the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  If you’d like to read more about it, check out our article, Foundational Principles of the United States – What are They? but essentially, we can see that God has given us a right to (for example) life, because we see in God’s Word prohibitions like, “Thou shalt not kill” (murder).  So, it is clear that God gave us an unalienable right to life because others are forbidden from taking our lives from us. 

Similarly, we see also God has protected our right to property because He says in His Word, “Thou shalt not steal”.  God clearly gave us a right to property because He forbids others from taking what belongs to us.  These are rights that God gave us, and we see they are consistent with His Word.  When people claim “rights” to things that are contrary to God’s Word, then that presents a problem.  God is the source of unalienable rights – not government – so government cannot decide that people have a right to violate God’s Laws.  If a supposed “right” is a violation of God’s Law, what is the source of that right?  It isn’t God…  and therefore, it isn’t legitimate.

Self-evident truths

When we see a beautiful work of art like Mount Rushmore, it is obvious that it was created by a talented sculptor.  In the same way, when we see the beauty and precision of creation, we know it was created by God.  We know the things God gives must be consistent with His Word.  They are written into our hearts as part of His creation.  We know these things are true.  We don’t need someone to come along to try to convince us.  These things are obvious.  They are self-evident.  These self-evident truths are a key part of the firm foundation that undergirds our form of government.