Hey folks I debated this constitutional topic on a liberal website and had quite a good time so I thought I'd share it here.
I’ve noticed several threads on different forums discussing the inalienable rights granted from the Creator of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” in our founding documents so I thought why not try to put the concept into context as it related to the era. Our current definitions differ greatly of how and why the founders used these particular words but if we could return to that era perhaps we could discover some trends that were glaring opposite examples of why these words were appropriate? We are all very familiar with slavery but many are less aware of the indentured servant system that was prevalent at that time and was in fact existent prior to use of Africans for slavery.
From where did Jefferson pull these words and why is the question? Let me say from the beginning that I think Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine were Deists of the “old school” variety of the belief that religion is a fraud and all truth resides within the ability of reason. I say he was old school because the philosophy evolved into religious philosophy by the time he put those particular words to paper but he and Paine did despise the church even though they did play along to get along with the 99.9% of the population that were devout Christians. Go to this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...f_Independence and show me the love of fellow Deists, hey it wasn’t there, wall to wall bible thumpers.
So, things move fast as the Revolution takes place and faster following the revolution and a Jefferson Presidency passes without any law or amendment that resembled the spirit and intent of those famous words he put to paper. In fact two presidents, the 13th and the 17th had their Creator given Unalienable rights Jefferson spoke of sold under his watch as president. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_were_t..._as_young_boys See http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/top...llard_Fillmore and http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Andrew_Johnson
Referring back to the first link above, Lincoln Presidency revives the famous words of Jefferson and forms them in the legal context which means {see} http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inalienable_rights and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inalienable_rights and for even more research see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inalien...ights_theories
Question for debate:
If secular “old school” Deist were in the minority at the time of Thomas Jefferson putting into words the statement” 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.” Were the spirit and intent of the words of religious or secular base? Explain your position please.