Preamble to 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.
As we study our Founding Fathers, the Word and the Preamble, we see that they fully acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ and the scriptures as controlling forces in their decisions and writing of our Constitution of the United States. When they spoke of “unalienable Rights” they were referring to the God given rights for His creation of the earth and mankind as recorded in the scriptures.
We see that they picked precise words for the document. Self-evident means, that everyone should be able to see the evidence with ease. If momma calls from the kitchen, “how many apples are on the table” and I reply 5, then anyone could count the apples and see the evidence of 5 is correct.
Notice that being created by a Creator was self-evident to our Founding Fathers! They were referring to the Genesis 1:26-27 account of the creation of man as Truth. God gave mankind dominion over the earth and over the resources of the earth. All men are created equal, to them meant, that it is self-evident that God did not intend for some men to dominate and rule over other men but that every man had the same God given right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The whole Truth of the Bible is that God is to be praised and worshipped and the First Amendment addresses that topic. At the time of the writing, the predominate Bible was the King James Version. Some of our modern Dictionaries have taken too many liberties with English words. However, the mindset of our Founding Fathers would have been the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary which defines religion, abridging and redress as follows;
(1828) religion in its most comprehensive sense, includes a belief in the being and perfections of God, in the revelation of his will to man, in man's obligation to obey his commands, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man's accountableness to God; and also true godliness or piety of life, with the practice of all moral duties.
(1828) abridging participle present tense shortening; lessening; depriving; debarring.
(1828) redress verb transitive 1. To set right; to amend. 2. To remedy; to repair; to relieve from, and sometimes to indemnify for; as, to redress wrongs; to redress injuries; to redress grievances. Sovereigns are bound to protect their subjects, and redress their grievances.
With these definitions in mind, let’s examine the preciseness of the word of our Founding Fathers.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Compiled by Jerry Thomas 9/21/2023.
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