Vol 4. No. 1. “The Pursuit of Happiness: The Root of America’s Civil Ethic”(WPS Presidential Address, 2005) Dr. Barry E. Bryant Chair of Wesleyan Studies Memphis Theological Seminary Etched in the cornerstone of American government are the words taken from what is known as the “Jefferson draft” of the Declaration of Independence. 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, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Classical Influences.
Principle 8. Life and the Pursuit of Happiness. A Principle of The Traditional American Philosophy 8. Life and the Pursuit of Happiness ". . . unalienable Rights, that among these are Life . . . and the pursuit of Happiness. " (Declaration of Independence) The Principle 1. Ever Changing Nature of Goals, etc. 2. Definition Emphasizes Self-development, Self-discipline 3. The particular rights to "Life" and to "the pursuit of Happiness," like all of the others among Man's God-given, unalienable rights, are subject to the requirements of the duty factor of Individual Liberty-Responsibility under constitutionally limited government, including especially the observance of due respect for the equal rights of others.
Innumerable Things of Limitless Scope 4. The Key: Voluntary Cooperation Based on Spiritual Unity 5. The Practical Application Typical of Americans 6. Coercion Excluded 7. No Sacrifice of Any Right of Any Individual 8. The End Does Not Justify the Means 9. What Is Not Meant 10. The Conclusion 11. History News Network | Because the Past is the Present, and the Future too. By Carol V. Hamilton Originally published 1-27-08 Ms. Hamilton has a Ph.D. in English from Berkeley. “The pursuit of happiness” is the most famous phrase in the Declaration of Independence. In an article entitled “The Pursuit of Happiness,” posted at the Huffington Post July 4, 2007, Daniel Brook summed up what most of us learned in school: “The eighteenth-century British political philosopher John Locke wrote that governments are instituted to secure people's rights to ‘life, liberty, and property.’
Familiar as all this sounds, Brook is wrong on three points. The phrase has meant different things to different people. The “pursuit of happiness” has led its own life in popular culture. If Thomas Jefferson did not coin the phrase, who did? In 1770 Dr. What Dr. It seems unlikely that Jefferson plucked “the pursuit of happiness” from the prose of a Tory like Dr. The necessity of pursuing happiness [is] the foundation of liberty. The Greek word for “happiness” is eudaimonia. Moral. Declaration of Independence - Transcript. The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated: The Dangers of Same-Sex 'Marriage' What's Wrong with That? By Regis Nicoll|Published Date: May 26, 2006 Last week a judge struck down an amendment banning same-sex marriage.
The ruling turned on a technicality which limits amendments to one topic. The amendment, approved by three-fourths of the State electorate, defined marriage as between one man and one woman, while also banning same-sex civil unions. But, according to Judge Constance C. Russell, that was a disservice to voters " who believe marriages between men and women should have a unique and privileged place in our society [and] also believe that same-sex relationships should have some place, although not marriage. " While I believe the judge was wrong to overrule the will of the people by the power of the bench, I believe his assessment of popular sentiment is sadly right. Consequently, as the U. Threat, what threat? One of those is Karl Giberson, editor of Science & Theology News and a self-described conservative who values marriage.
Giberson is not alone. Article. “The apt and cheerful conversation of man with woman is the chief and noblest purpose of marriage,” wrote John Milton. “Where loving [conversation] cannot be, there can be left of wedlock nothing but the empty husk of an outside matrimony””dry, shrivelled, and dispensable. Aptness can strain cheerfulness: candid conversations between spouses can be very painful. Cheerfulness can strain aptness: blissful domestic ignorance can be very tempting.
But aptness and cheerfulness properly belong together in a marriage, Milton tells us. Where they fail, the marriage fails. An apt and cheerful conversation about marriage must be part of our dialogue today. To be “apt,” our conversation cannot wax nostalgic about a prior golden age of marriage and the family, nor wax myopic about modern ideals of liberty, privacy, and autonomy.
To be “cheerful,” our conversation must proceed with the faith that the crisis of modern American marriage and family life can be overcome. Of the Unity and Indissolubility of Marriage. At the General Audience in St Peter's Square on 5 September, attended by more than 20,000 people, Pope John Paul II gave the following address. 1.
For some time now preparations have been going on for the next ordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place in Rome in autumn of next year. The theme of the Synod, "The role of the Christian family," concentrates our attention on this community of human and Christian life, which has been fundamental from the beginning. The Lord Jesus used precisely this expression "from the beginning" in the talk about marriage, reported in the Gospels of St. Clear-cut responses 2. "And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, 'Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause? ' Christ did not accept the discussion at the level at which his interlocutors tried to introduce it.
From the beginning 3. The eternal law 4. Preparation for the Synod 5. Defense of Marriage.