In a recent speech at the University of Texas, United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas emphasized the formative influence of the Declaration of Independence on our society. “The Declaration,” Thomas said, “made it clear … that the purpose of government is to protect our God-given, unalienable rights, rights that all individuals equally possess.”
Adopted 250 years ago on July 4, the Declaration reads, “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.”
Justice Thomas urged his listeners to celebrate the Declaration, on its 250th anniversary, “by standing up for it, by defending it, and by recommitting yourselves to living ups to its ideas.” Indeed, we should stand by the truths outlined in the Declaration, especially since in recent years the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” have been perverted and attacked.
‘The pursuit of happiness’
Before his death in 1963, the British scholar and popular theologian C.S. Lewis published his last work in the Saturday Evening Post—an essay titled “We Have No Right to Happiness.” Speaking on the cusp of the sexual revolution, Lewis recognized that many people in Western society were beginning to think “a right to happiness” meant a right to promiscuity and infidelity, a right to follow whatever “sexual impulse” one might have.
Lewis rightly recognized this as a perversion of the “pursuit of happiness” defended by the Declaration of Independence. Instead, he said, the Declaration defends the right “to pursue happiness by all lawful means”—that is, “by all means which the Law of Nature eternally sanctions” or, in other words, by all means consistent with God’s moral law.
A society where the “pursuit of happiness” is divorced from moral law, Lewis warned, cannot last long: “Though our technological skill may help us survive a little longer, our civilization will have died at heart, and will … be swept away.”
‘Liberty’
Lewis spoke with foresight, given the rise of the LGBTQ movement in recent decades. Indeed, this movement hasn’t only perverted the “pursuit of happiness,” but it has also attacked the right to “liberty” defended by the Declaration.
Jack Phillips, a Christian baker in Colorado, spent more than a dozen years in court defending his freedom to not violate his biblical convictions by making cakes for “same sex weddings.” In a recent news release from Alliance Defending Freedom, Phillips spoke about the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights—and about what these freedoms should mean for Christians:
“The First Amendment, and our entire Constitution really, is so unique in the history of the world, not only in guaranteeing free speech and freedom to exercise our religion without fear of government punishment, but the Constitution also requires the government itself to be the protector of those rights,” Phillips said. “As followers of Jesus Christ, we cannot take this for granted; we need to take advantage of this precious freedom and obey the Great Commission by sharing the gospel freely while we can! People need to hear good news, and there’s no better news than this: Christ died to take the punishment we deserved for our sins and to restore the relationship He created us for.”
‘Life’
One of the most tragic attacks on our “inalienable rights,” of course, has come through the pro-abortion movement. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, more than 60 million babies have been denied their right to life. Unfortunately, Missouri voters in 2024 failed to protect the lives of unborn babies, but efforts are underway to restore pro-life protections.
In May, according to Life News, the Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill “requiring medical professionals to provide immediate care to babies born alive during or after an attempted abortion.” The bill will become law if signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe, and I pray he signs it soon.
Moreover, at the ballot box on Nov. 3, Missouri voters will have the opportunity restore pro-life protections for the unborn by voting “yes” on Amendment 3. Missouri Baptists can learn more about this amendment via the Christian Life Commission’s website (https://mbcclc.org/) or via the Missouri Right to Life website (https://missourilife.org/).
