by nicolaou 23 Replies latest jw friends
"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."
Do you believe that? Even leaving god and religion to one side, are all humans born equal? Certainly not in their circumstances, but what about potential? Given equal opportunities and education could all children excel in 'Life' and achieve 'Liberty' and 'Happiness'?
I wonder this myself at times. Two grown men, with many experiences behind them, with different skills and talents each, are not equal to me.
However, this equality of potential idea which also occurred to me, has me scratching my head. It seems reasonable, but what does it really mean? It seems almost meaningless to me.
The jury is still out as far as I'm concerned.
No - and whoever said Life is FAIR WAS TALKING CRAP -LIFE IS UNFAIR - and people are not created equal
I think all people exit the womb (unless theres a serious mental defect) pretty much equal. What comes after that can be down right suprising.
Equality, in the sense they are talking about doesn't mean a ditto-head carbon copy of each other. That would be ridiculous. But it does mean the same freedoms and the same responsibilities for all humans. It means that whatever law applies to one person should apply to another. Yes, it is an imperfect world, women still make 71 cents for every dollar a man makes with the same education and experience. That is neither fair nor just. And that is what those words were meant to protect. That right to have the same pay for the same work (as one example).
I think all life is sacred, and that if there wasn't such a class system in this world we would be equal. But we don't all have the same opportunities in life so we don't have the same results.
I'm not very good with words, but I have strong feelings about this.
Sherry
Perhaps it means something like all men are created equal in that God loves them all equally?
Psalm 139...? According to this passage -
He knows everything, is present everywhere, created everything and is perfectly holy. He constantly attends to our every thought, word and action. God thinks of all humans like an artwork even a masterpeice.
Communism was a better example than the U.S. of an attempt at making all men equal, and look where it got the U.S.S.R. A Mother state with the majority of the populace cut off at the knees, forced into a false equality.
You have to look at it in context. Don't take a snippet from the middle and complain that it doesn't make sense.
What is the SUBJECT of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE?
The subject is GOVERNMENT, not biology. And so it begins,In a world which at that time held that there are different CLASSES of people, and that a person could not exceed his class, the founders of America took a far more noble view; a view that offered opportunity to each individual regardless of who his parents were or which country his parents came from.
That, in brief, is it.
...and it is one of the GREATEST documents of humanity, the product of rational human minds, not some invisible imaginary friend.
Daystar dahlin, the Soviet Union never had a true communism. I do NOT advocate socialism, but my son voted socialist for awhile and I actually learned some things from him. I have heard if you read Marx and Tolstoy you'll see a different form of government advocated than what was ever practiced in the USSR. As it stands, as long as there is opportunity for a power grab and corruption someone will try to do that. That happened to them and that is happening in our country as well.
Sherry
Equal in what sense? We should all have equal value and rights.
But do we all get equal genetics or abilities? Do we get equally good parents and economic situations? Do we get equally good governements to grow up under? No. Stilla is right, life is unfair and I am not sure we are meant to understand exactly why in this life.
