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.”
God was at the center of the founding of the United States, and this worldview led to an emphasis upon personal responsibility for one’s actions as a steward of God’s blessings.
However, as the U.S. becomes increasingly secularized, the federal government begins to replace God, and God given institutions like the church and family, as well as community and personal responsibility, are overshadowed by an emphasis upon an ever expanding catalog of rights. A symphony of expressions like blessing, thankfulness, and unworthiness, which expressed gratefulness to God, is displaced by a cacophony of ungrateful humans clamoring about their rights to security and success in every area of life, e.g. education, retirement, healthcare, and a certain standard of living.
Under God, everything is a blessing, but when government replaces God, everything becomes an entitlement with no rational end in sight. For why should government stop with guaranteeing education, retirement, or healthcare? What about transportation, housing, a job, ad infinitum?
Men created in the image of God may have a right to the “Pursuit of Happiness,” but without God, men clamor for happiness to be guaranteed by the government since they are powerless victims of uncontrollable Darwinian forces.
