I spent more than a decade encouraging students to memorize this (and I type totally from memory:
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.
I think right now about my religious relatives and other countrymen who believe in Jesus. They praise Jesus. They believe they are saved through that belief. The same goes for Americans and the the Declaration of Independence. We believe it. We believe we are free. We believe we are the light of the world, the City on the Hill.
In either case, "salvation by Jesus" and "God Bless America" I believe there is something missing. What's missing is action. If you believe in Jesus then obey his commandments. Stop the war machine that is killing innocent people. Stop the sanctions that starve innocent children. Free the Guantanamo martyrs and close the illegal prisons. Stop torturing Jesus.
If you believe that all are created equal, then let them run their countries free of CIA interference - leave Bolivia alone, leave Venezuela alone, Cuba Libre!
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.
I think right now about my religious relatives and other countrymen who believe in Jesus. They praise Jesus. They believe they are saved through that belief. The same goes for Americans and the the Declaration of Independence. We believe it. We believe we are free. We believe we are the light of the world, the City on the Hill.
In either case, "salvation by Jesus" and "God Bless America" I believe there is something missing. What's missing is action. If you believe in Jesus then obey his commandments. Stop the war machine that is killing innocent people. Stop the sanctions that starve innocent children. Free the Guantanamo martyrs and close the illegal prisons. Stop torturing Jesus.
If you believe that all are created equal, then let them run their countries free of CIA interference - leave Bolivia alone, leave Venezuela alone, Cuba Libre!
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