Happiness

The forefather of the USA were quite a smart bunch of people. They were quite the forward thinkers of their time. They recognized that in a modern society, religion has no place in the running of a country or in politics for that matter even though some of them were extremely religious. This resulted in the separated of church and state which was a totally alien concept at that time. Yes we can argue that this was not always practiced in American history but the idea was ultimately a good one. It brought much progress to the country without the usual "religio-political" entanglements that the countries during that time had to deal with. In their wisdom they decided they religion had no part in politics and vice-versa.

But perhaps the best and most radical statement made by the founding fathers of the US was the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and that "all men are created equal under God." Even going to the extent of holding those truths to be self evident.

"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. "

These statements are found in the American Declaration Of Independence and from my point of view can be divided into two parts. The first part is about the right to life, liberty and the equality of all men. It means that a man's life is his standard of value and it is his country's duty to protect him and his freedoms. Nobody can force a man to do something he doesn't want to do. Period. Unless he has broken the laws of the land. The laws of the land must also be crafted in a way that forbids any entity (corporations, companies, people etc...) to take a man's freedom and security away. It must be fair, balanced and unbiased for justice to be done not tyrannical.


Keep in mind that among the group of people that came up with these ideas, some of them were slave owners. Why would they come up with such ideas and open themselves up to accusations of double standards? Why don't just abolish slavery right away? I guess they thought that such ideas were too radical for people of that time to accept, but it still had to be proclaimed because it was the right thing to do, they perhaps also did it in the hope that future generations would fulfill it. Think about it, it took a civil war to abolish slavery in the US. Martin Luther King Jr. lost his life while fighting for equal rights for African Americans. So perhaps they had a point.

But even these ideas had their limit. And the founding fathers of the US seem to accept that as well. Although life, liberty and equality must be guaranteed to you, happiness is not. It must be pursued. Imagine that. Although you are guaranteed everything needed to live a good life under such a declaration, happiness is not one of them. This begs the question. Are you happy? Have the things you pursued made you happy? If not, maybe you should try Jesus Christ. I did, and although life may not be smooth going for me by any standard. I am happy.