Why Liberty and Justice for ALL?
The Pledge of Allegiance states: "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Why is it important that liberty and justice be for all instead of only for some? Because we are all God’s children. The Declaration of Independence states:
". . . 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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, . . ."
This asserts certain key principles on which the Declaration is based:
1. Everyone has the same rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
2. These rights come from our Creator.
3. Government has no authority to deprive people of these rights.
4. Government is necessary in order to secure these rights.
In his first inaugural address (text)(video, speech starts at 21:10), President Ronald Reagan reminded us we must look out for our entire country (“We the People”), not just certain groups:
“We hear much of special interest groups. Well, our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we're sick -- professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truckdrivers. They are, in short, ''We the people,'' this breed called Americans.”
Similarly, in his Fourth of July speech in 1986, President Reagan called for Americans to work together to transcend our disagreements and unite our country:
“But our prayer tonight is that the call for their [the military's] courage will never come. And that it's important for us, too, to be brave; not so much the bravery of the battlefield, I mean the bravery of brotherhood. All through our history, our Presidents and leaders have spoken of national unity and warned us that the real obstacle to moving forward the boundaries of freedom, the only permanent danger to the hope that is America, comes from within."
[He tells of two of our greatest Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who had become bitter political rivals, but reconciled and became friends again before both died on July 4, 1826 (exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence).]
“My fellow Americans, it falls to us to keep faith with them and all the great Americans of our past. Believe me, if there's one impression I carry with me after the privilege of holding for 5 ½ years the office held by Adams and Jefferson and Lincoln, it is this: that the things that unite us -- America's past of which we're so proud, our hopes and aspirations for the future of the world and this much-loved country -- these things far outweigh what little divides us. And so tonight we reaffirm that Jew and gentile, we are one nation under God; that black and white, we are one nation indivisible; that Republican and Democrat, we are all Americans. Tonight, with heart and hand, through whatever trial and travail, we pledge ourselves to each other and to the cause of human freedom, the cause that has given light to this land and hope to the world.”
Lately, Americans seem to be as divided as ever; split into opposing camps of distrust, and often hatred. But much of that is driven by narratives that falsely exaggerate or mispresent our motives and differences. We, and our country, will be much better off if we follow President Reagan’s advice to keep in mind that the things that unite us – the parts of America's past of which we're so proud, and our hopes and aspirations for the future of the world and this much-loved country -- far outweigh what divides us. We should reaffirm that all Americans are one nation indivisible and pledge ourselves to each other and the American ideal of liberty and justice for all.
We must also keep in mind that the basis of the equal rights in the U.S. Constitution comes from God and our shared humanity. Before he became President, John F. Kennedy urged us in his July 4, 1946 speech to protect these God-given rights from people and philosophies that would undermine them, in particular, collectivism, atheism, and materialism:
“Our government was founded on the essential religious idea of integrity of the individual. . . . Today these basic religious ideas are challenged by atheism and materialism: at home in the cynical philosophy of many of our intellectuals, abroad in the doctrine of collectivism, which sets up the twin pillars of atheism and materialism as the official philosophical establishment of the State. Inspired by a deeply religious sense, this country, which has ever been devoted to the dignity of man, which has ever fostered the growth of the human spirit, has always met and hurled back the challenge of those deathly philosophies of hate and despair. We have defeated them in the past; we will always defeat them. . . . The right of the individual against the State has ever been one of our most cherished political principles. The American Constitution has set down for all men to see the essentially Christian and American principle that there are certain rights held by every man which no government and no majority, however powerful, can deny. Conceived in Grecian thought, strengthened by Christian morality, and stamped indelibly into American political philosophy, the right of the individual against the State is the keystone of our Constitution. Each man is free. . . . Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. It was the price yesterday. It is the price today, and it will ever be the price.”
The last two principles from the Declaration of Independence noted above (Government has no authority to deprive people of their fundamental rights and Government is necessary in order to secure these rights) can result in conflict if government is not strong enough to protect people’s rights or is used to deprive people of their rights. Preserving liberty requires a careful balance.
In order to ensure and protect these rights for ourselves and our posterity, we must work to assure the Rule of Law. That means equal protection of rights and enforcement of the laws for everyone, not selective protection and enforcement for those in power and certain chosen groups. Too often, this principle has been violated, resulting in injustice. We must all work together to prevent that.
Anti-Slavery, Anti-Segregation, and Anti-Discrimination
Slavery is an abomination. It is the complete opposite of liberty. Slavery existed in various parts of the United States from the 1600s until the end of the Civil War in 1865. Slavery was irreconcilable with the principles of liberty expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. This hypocrisy was well understood by Americans both before and after the American Revolution. Throughout American history, a growing number of Americans spoke out and took action against slavery. Starting in the 1700's, slavery was banned in the Northern colonies and states. The conflict between the slave and non-slave states eventually led to a civil war, culminating in the end of slavery at the end of the Civil War with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, guarantees equal civil and legal rights to all U.S. citizens.
Despite the 14th Amendment, black Americans continued to be subjected to legally-enforced segregation and denial of voting and other rights in some parts of the country for about 100 years after the end of the Civil War. At great risk and sacrifice, many American heroes stood up for, and eventually established, the equal rights for all Americans promised by the 14th Amendment.
