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| 13 stars from Betsy Ross flag |
As Independence Day approaches I am prompted to consider why it was that our founding fathers, Christian by a very great majority, would establish a decidedly secular form of government. Our Constitution, crafted by Christian lawyers, farmers and others, does not mandate Christian religion, or any other.
There is this phrase
in the Declaration of Independence that reads in part “a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind” And while the fuller sentence shows the purpose of the
Declaration, that a proper reasoning be given for such revolutionary action,
that sentiment can also legitimately be repurposed to show that a “respect for
human conscience” is core to the nature of this new American nation.
By showing a
respect for human conscience the creators of our nation imitate God himself
when creating man. God was the first to show respect to human conscience by
leaving man with free will, the means to choose. God did not impose upon man a
particular way that man would relate to God. The choice was left to man that in
his choosing, man would be sincere.
I am convinced that
our founding fathers created a secular, non-religious government not that we
would be absent the Christian faith, but that we would choose it in sincerity
and free will.
I base this conviction in part on a writing by John Hancock
in 1775, almost one full year before the Declaration is published.
(from “The Spirit of Seventy-Six” edited by Henry Commager
and Richard Morris. Published 1983 by Bonanza Books, page 279)…
“With an humble
confidence in the mercies of the Supreme and Impartial Judge and Ruler of the
Universe…” This description of God must have been popular in the day as a
variation of it is used in the Declaration…”Supreme Judge of the world”.
Furthermore I point out, as
evidenced by Hancock’s writing, presented below, contrary to popular idea that
the colonists were eager to rebel, efforts were made, as also the Declaration
states, to reconcile with England
“We
fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable
spectacle of a people attacked by unprovoked enemies, without any imputation,
or even suspicion of offence. They boast of their privileges and civilization,
and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death. In our own native
land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright, and which we ever enjoyed
till the late violation of it; for the protection of our property, acquired
solely by the honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves, against
violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when
hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their
being renewed shall be removed,—and not before. With an humble confidence in
the mercies of the Supreme and Impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we
most devoutly implore his divine goodness to conduct us happily through this
great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable
terms, and thereby to relieve the Empire from the calamities of civil war. By
Order of CONGRESS, JOHN HANCOCK, PRESIDENT. Philadelphia
Reconciliation, being a
Christian impulse, should always be an option toward resolution of conflict,
personal, national, partisan, or otherwise.
May you have a reconciled and
happy Independence Day.
