Do We ‘Hold These Truths to be Self Evident’?
On July 4, 2026 celebrations will take place across the land to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing in the City of Philadelphia of the Declaration of Independence – the birth of our nation.
A renewed focus on the core principles contained within that document is coming none too soon as many Americans appear to have lost sight of what compelled thirteen fledging colonies to declare their independence from what was at the time the most powerful empire on the planet.
A few weeks ago, Dr. Paul Kengor, who is editor-in-chief of the venerable conservative publication the American Spectator and who helms the Institute for Faith & Freedom at Grove City College delivered a commentary on American Radio Journal about how even a sitting United States Senator fails to understand the most fundamental principle contained in the declaration.
During a senate committee hearing U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) took exception to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments that our rights come from God. The man who was Hillary Clinton’s Vice Presidential running mate in 2016 actually said this:
“The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator — that’s what the Iranian government believes,” he said. “It’s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia (sic) law and targets Sunnis, Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities. They do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their Creator. So, the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling.”
Condemnation rained down on Kaine who later attempted to “clarify” his remarks. However, it is likely his initial statement represents his true belief in the supremacy of government.
Let me offer here a rebuttal to Kaine’s remarks:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator (emphasis added) with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Those words in the Declaration of Independence served as the starting point for the colonies to explain the causes that “impel them to the separation.” That the crown had denied colonists their God-given rights was the chief cause listed by Thomas Jefferson.
Unfortunately, Senator Kaine is not the only American to have forgotten this fundamental truth. In the Lincoln Institute’s Fall 2026 Keystone Business Climate Survey we included a question asking whether a respondent believed our rights are God-Given or granted to us by government.
Only 50% said they believe our rights to be God-given. Thirty-six percent said rights are granted by government. The remaining 14% offered no opinion. Keeping in mind the survey is one of the owners, CEOs, or top managers of businesses – a universe you might expect to be somewhat highly educated.
Or perhaps that is the reason.
Our high schools have failed to place a necessary emphasis on the principles of American government – or even the mechanics of our representative republic. As a result, students graduate without a firm understanding of the foundations of western civilization.
Worse, those who proceed into our colleges and universities are then indoctrinated with a woke ideology that at its core seeks to replace God and religion with the state. This is then re-enforced by a Left leaning legacy news media.
Thus, 250 years after patriots pledged their “lives, fortunes and sacred honor” to establish a nation based on God-given rights all too many Americans are either uneducated or have succumbed to the socialist precept that the state is supreme.
We have before us, however, an opportunity to renew the spirit of ’76. The celebrations which will take place this coming July 4th should include more than just fireworks and parades – although this is an occasion that should be celebrated. It is a golden opportunity to refocus not just on the outcome of the Declaration of Independence, but to re-learn the principles that compelled that separation.
(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly American Radio Journal and Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org)
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