On a recent Revelife post, the claim was made by one commenter that "Jesus alone is behind America and its ideals." To support this claim, the commenter quoted the inalienable rights section of the Declaration of Independence:
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.
This is the foundation of liberalism, to be sure, but it is questionable whether this foundation is founded on Jesus. Rights-speak is foreign to the thought-world of the Christian scriptures, and if taken seriously undermine much that scripture says and does.
- If it is true that all people are endowed with a unalienable right to life, then God is the ultimate violator of human rights. Scripture doesn't speak of life as a right we possess but a gift we receive moment by moment.
- If liberty is a human right, then how can Jesus ask us to take his yoke rather than another, and how can Paul write, "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." In the Christian view, libertine freedom is but the tyranny of the self (undirected freedom is always slavery to something or another). What is to be desired is not liberty but service to a better master.
- If all people have an unalienable right to pursue happiness, the claim that "there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God: all have turned away" becomes not an indictment but a celebration of the individual's pursuit of whatever makes them happiest. The New Testament claims that far from having a right to seek our own happiness, we have an obligation to use our freedom to be servants to one another, in love.
The concept of intractable human rights, upon which other humans cannot tread, is probably the best we can do for structuring a society that lacks any common narrative. Why else should strangers refrain from killing one another? But the church
has a narrative, and that narrative calls us to be something special, to be an alternative community that lives in the knowledge that Christ is lord. Knowing what we know (what the world does not know) means that we are capable of living in the knowledge that we have no rights, but that all we have is gift; even we ourselves are gift, for we would not be apart from the gifting action of God.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are fine as far as they go, but as Christians we must not cling to them as rights, but live with open palms to receive gifts from our Father.
Are there other rights we perceive to have but, in the context of our Christian faith, we don't?
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Comments (24)
Right. A year ago or so, I argued the same thing on revelife. I would say though that our being created equal is suggested by both male and female being created to resemble God.
We have no entitlements to anything, including tomorrow. (James 4:13-15)
Also, the Declaration of independence doesn't actually have any legal standing. It was influential to be sure, but it's not part of the constitution or any other legally binding document. That and it was complete and utter propaganda. Point being, it still amazes me how often people cite that quote when trying to make a political point.
I hope that when someone claimed that "Jesus alone is behind America and its ideals," that everyone else jumped on him for what a joke of a statement that is.
Awesome post.
I don't believe that a Christian has any rights at all-- the Christian, as Paul consistently speaks, does what he's called to do.
I'm guilty of this one, and I'm trying to remove this thought process ingrained into my mind for the span of my entire life, but I don't think Christians have the right to be offended. Jesus even said "do not be surprised if they hate you, for they hate the one who sent you". I think, as a Christian, we're not supposed to receive insult as a personal thing.
By contrast, it seems as though Americans think that they deserve the right to be offended, and thus reimbursed for their offense.
At any rate, this doesn't appear to be what the Christian is supposed to do.
God is under no obligation to give us any rights.
I do believe we, humankind, have a moral duty to one
another which consists of allowing each other to live, to have freedom,
and to pursue what makes us happy.
However, America's path to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
is centered on it's definition of life, liberty and happiness- which although open for interpretation, I believe is generally not consistent with Christ's values.
According to Christ life, liberty and happiness are all found in Him
and Him alone; according to the American way, they can be found in all sorts of things.Christ can not be the foundation of this path because it is nothing like Christ's
path.
Christ's life and teachings emphasized unwarranted sacrifice,
lifelong servanthood, and inevitable suffering in a world that progressively hates God. Furthermore, these are the things Christ's path to life,
liberty and happiness consist of; to exclude or minimize these things is to exclude or minimize Christ.
i've said this before, but i think that the only "inalienable" right anyone has is the right to fair treatment.... that, no matter what laws you live under, you have the right to be governed by those laws in the same way everyone else is. all other rights are just social constructs... to be sure, some rights have such an obvious benefit to society that to do away with them seems idiotic at this point.
if life is inalienable, we wouldn't execute criminals. if liberty or the pursuit of happiness is inalienable, no laws would exist at all. every one of those so-called untouchable rights has exceptions.
This is the foundation of liberalism, to be sure, but it is questionable whether this foundation is founded on Jesus.
For the sola scripura crowd the holistic nature of the Gospel will forever remain a mystery. This is because the sola scriptura doctrine, like atheism, cripples the intellect's ability to think and severs the critical link that the present has with the past.
The ultimate affect is the stupification of the intellect.
For over 5 centuries, as the Christianity spread throughout the Greco-Roman it encountered the incredibly well developed and holistic philosophies of the Greeks; Aristotle in particular.
Even though they preach it, the Bible only crowd doesn't really understand that God created the world through Jesus Christ and that all that is good in the world was put there by God Himself.
This means that there is a lot of good in our world that didn't make it into the Bible. But because the Church is an actual, living being that develops organically, it has the power to move into any culture and assimilate the good there and then order it to Christ's purpose.
The Bible only crowd has its nose stuck in a book and is missing out on the fullness of the Gospel life that is happening before its eyes.
That's why those folks can't see that the basic principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are intimately connected with the spiritual life and Gospel teachings of Christ.
Knowing what we know (what the world does not know) means that we are capable of living in the knowledge that we have no rights, but that all we have is gift; even we ourselves are gift, for we would not be apart from the gifting action of God.
I am the person that the OP is referring to. And although I am honored by this critique I must state that the OP is catagorically wrong!
The human being does have basic unalienable rights that are endowed by God. Rights are a philosophical construct of how we take Spirit-based ethics and translate them practically into real life.
The unalienable right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness are so fundamental to a society ordered to God that to see it as non-Christian is a profound error.
@fallingraindrop@xanga - I agree with you on the idea that the rights expressed in the Declaration and they do flow naturally from God, but is your argument that America is the only society capable of upholding such rights due to America somehow being preferred by God? Between your quote being taken out of context by the OP and your comment, I am not sure I understand what you are meaning to say.
@scrambledmegsntoast@xanga - but is your argument that America is the only society capable of upholding such rights due to America somehow being preferred by God?
Actually, the converse is true: God blessed America because it is the only society to ever acknowledge that basic rights are endowed by God.
@scrambledmegsntoast@xanga - If the context will help, here is a link to the original comment.
@SirNickDon@xanga - Oh, are Lobornlyte and falliongraindrop the same person? I thought they seem to hold many of the same views but fallingraindrop seems a bit nicer about expressing them.
@scrambledmegsntoast@xanga - I don't know anything about that, but that's the comment I was quoting in my post.
@scrambledmegsntoast@xanga - Sorry, I guess I got a little conceited. I posted an article on the pursuit of happiness here.
It does appear that "The Wench" (my affectionate nick name for LoBornlyte) and I share basic training in Greek philosophy, Catholic theology and political philosophy.
Nevertheless, for my self esteem I would politely request that you not confuse us or consider us to be the same person.
@fallingraindrop@xanga - "The Wench" (my affectionate nick name for LoBornlyte)...
Why you spoiled little snit!
It's not enough that you try to steal credit for comments that I made and not you, but you "affectionately" nick name me "The Wench"!
What nerve!!
Did that really just happen?
@soy_esteban@xanga - Unfortunately.
While I'm a Buddhist, we share similar beliefs. I'd just like to add a point about happiness. True happiness is something quite different from what we so often take as happiness. Everyone wants to become happy. Nobody wakes up in the morning saying, "I hope my girlfriend leaves me for another guy today" or I hope I get thrown under a bus" or just plain, "Gee I hope I'm absolutely miserable again by the end of the day. Yesterday's misery was just awesome!" What we pursue as happiness are often things that won't ultimately bring us happiness. That doesn't make them bad because we learn as we go along and eventually start coming to the right kinds of conclusions. In an extreme there is the person who believes, "I'll be happy after I kill that person today". The problem with that pursuit of happiness is obvious to most people and unlike our murderous friend, we realize that no happiness is going to come out of his scheme. So...the pursuit of happiness. Spiritually, we do have an inalienable right to the pursuit of true happiness.
And people wonder why I didn't feel truly free until I threw religion out of my life......
@scrambledmegsntoast@xanga - Oh, are Lobornlyte and fallingraindrop the
same person? I thought they seem to hold many of the same views but
fallingraindrop seems a bit nicer about expressing them.
I've never bothered to say anything about it, because it would be a cheap shot to pick on such an unfortunate disorder... but yeah, its an obvious case of online split personality.
As a child I was rather spoiled and selfish. My mom had me make signs to put on stuff in my room - "Jesus' Room" "Jesus' doll" etc. She said every time I wanted to be selfish and hold on to "my rights" (including my "rights" to be angry or bitter etc) I needed to remember that whatever I had was a gift. It was all perishable - even my freedom, etc - and a gift from God and I should be ready to give it back if ever He should ask it of me.
Anyway, this post reminded me of that. :P Great post.@rachelserine@xanga - That's a great idea. Now I just need to remember where I set down Jesus' label-maker...
@SirNickDon@xanga - Hahaha! :D
As a Canadian Christian, I am becoming more and more convinced daily that the American Constitution is one of the worst documents ever written. By holding that people are entitled to the "pursuit of happiness", it sets happiness as a standard, rather than service to other people and God. It rationalizes any perversion, and results in any kind of sickness or trials as barriers standing in the way to this "unalienable right." We suffer the consequences of our actions, of other people's actions, and from natural disasters, from earthquakes, and fire, to the swine flu. What life is without trials? Without sorrow? None. Even Jesus himself died a painful death on the cross out of obedience to the Father.
The real challenge is to serve, to love, and to commit in the face of reality - life is full of things which are not pleasant or happy. Lest you question my life, I suffer from severe Rheumatoid Arthritis, and a host of other diseases, which are destroying the "quality" of my life, as well, as preventing me from doing the good I would like to do. Do I complain to a Human Rights Tribunal? Appeal to a court of law? Or is my goal to learn and grow, and trust God in the face of pain and suffering?
Canada is ultimately more free than the US will ever be. We have freedom for and from religion. That means that the Catholics can have their own schools, paid for by tax dollars, that homosexuals can marry, and that everyone is entitled to free health care. (Yes, that helps me a lot in my physical trials!) The US is becoming more divided and segregated as Americans from every side try and force their beliefs on others, and protect their wealth from the encroachment of the terrible god "socialism". Seriously, when Americans move here, they cannot understand why the country they came from, the richest nation in the world cannot provide for it's citizens the way we do in our tiny yet conservative socialist country. The recession is over here, because people do not overspend so madly in the "pursuit of happiness" as though material goods bring happiness anyway.
Our relationship with God, which reflects eternity is all that really matters. Our citizenship is in heaven, not in any country on earth, including my own!