In his second inaugural address, Barack Obama challenged us to live out the meaning of our creed as stated in the Declaration of Independence. But he then redefined those ideals to suit his political aims. Change is necessary, he said, because â??when times change, so must we.â?
Yet our founding principles need no modification. As Abraham Lincoln once wrote, these principles are â??applicable to all men and all timesâ? and serve as â??a rebuke and a stumbling block to the very harbingers of reappearing tyranny and oppression.â?
To preserve liberty, we must defend our principles, not change them. And doing so requires an understanding of their origin. To truly live out the meaning of our creed, we must first recognize what defined our founding as a nation. So let us objectively look at that beginning.
Colonial America was never home to a single race, language, or religion, yet a distinct American identity formed early in our historyâ??the diverse American people were united in society by a common idea, a shared political philosophy based in Natural Law. Thomas Paine described this unique, but unexpected, American bond as follows:
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