Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth, for the Colson Center. I'm John Stone Street. The year before he died, Chuck Colson reflected on the 4th of July and on our national identity in a very special breakpoint commentary. Chuck recognized that the only way to ground the ideals that are found in the Declaration of Independence. especially that all men are created equal and possess certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, is if we are indeed endowed by our Creator.
At stunning clarity in the Declaration of Independence, in stating that our rights are ultimately granted by God and not the State. is something that is far too often forgotten to day, and even entirely dismissed. But it's an essential truth that our rights come from God. Here's Chuck Coulson reflecting on this important point. The great British intellectual G.K.
Chesterton wrote that America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed. Think about that for a moment. Other nations were founded on the basis of race or by the power of kings or emperors who accumulated lands and the peasants who inhabited those lands. But America was and is to this day different. It was founded on a shared belief, or as Chesterton said, a creed.
And what is that creed that sets us apart? It's the eloquent, profound, simple statement penned by Thomas Jefferson in 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. I'll never forget when I graduated from Brown University during the Korean War, I couldn't wait to become a Marine officer, to give my life, if necessary, to defend that creed. to defend the idea that our rights come from God himself and are not subject to whims of governments or tyrants.
That humans ought to be free to pursue their most treasured hopes and aspirations.
Well, perhaps some 230 years later, we take these words for granted, but in 1776, they were earth-shaking, indeed, revolutionary. Yet today, they are in danger of being forgotten altogether. According to Gallup, 66% of American adults have no idea that the words we hold these truths come from the Declaration of Independence. Even worse, only 45% of college seniors know that the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are proclaimed in the Declaration. As America grows more and more diverse culturally, religiously, ethnically, it's critical we embrace the American creed.
America's always been a melting pot. But what is the pot that holds our multicultural stew together? Justidon said the pot's original shape was traced on the lines of Jeffersonian democracy, a democracy founded on those self-evident truths expressed in the Declaration of Independence. And as trusted in remark, the pot must not melt. Abraham Lincoln understood this so very well.
For him, the notion that all men are created equal was the electric cord in that declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world.
So go to the 4th of July parade, go to the neighborhood barbecue, and enjoy the hot dogs and apple pie. But here's an idea for you. Why not take time out at the picnic to read the Declaration of Independence aloud with your friends and your neighbors? Listen and thrill to those words that bind us together as a nation of freedom-loving people. 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.
These are the words Americans live for, and if necessary, die for. That was Chuck Coulson, whose words are just as true and relevant today as when he said them, and perhaps even more important for us in this cultural moment to truly understand. For all of us at the Colson Center. Have a happy 4th of July. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment or to share this commentary with other people, please go to breakpoint.org.
