As we approach the April 30 national opening of The Story of Everything, our colleague John West underscores what is at stake in the argument that the theatrical documentary so beautifully presents. Whether the universe has an author isn’t a matter of spiritual significance alone. It matters as well to the way we are governed.
As Dr. West shows in his recent book Endowed by Our Creator: The Bible, Science, and the Battle for America’s Soul, America’s national creed rests on propositions about reality.
He writes at the Christian Post that two famous sentences — beginning with “We hold these truths to be self-evident” — in the Declaration of Independence uphold most everything that is precious about our country.
They are not of merely theoretical or philosophical importance: “Societies that do not believe human beings are fundamentally equal have caste systems or worse,” and “Societies that do not think their rights come from God end up having no hard limits on government….” Moreover, “Societies that do not think that all human beings — including government officials — are sinful, inspire movements that grant absolute power to tyrants…”
Falling Out of Favor
Yet, research about the views held by Americans at present shows that the principles of the Declaration are falling out of favor. At stake are human equality and limited government:
According to a recent nationwide survey I oversaw, most Americans continue to believe all human beings are created equal. But they are divided over what this claim means.
The Founders believed we were all, in the words of John Adams, “made by the same God.” Only 63% of Americans today share the same view.
The Founders thought all humans possessed the same rights. Only 55% of Americans currently believe “all humans have equal rights.”
The Founders believed that all humans are fallible and corruptible. Only 48% of Americans today say that “all humans are fallible or sinful.”
Most Founders believed that human identity will survive death. Only 38% of Americans currently believe that “all humans have a soul that survives death.”
America’s Founders also believed that our fundamental rights are endowed by our Creator, not government. Because our rights do not come from government, they cannot rightfully be taken away by government.
Express that view today, and you will likely find yourself in hot water.
The Whole Universe
A U.S. senator, Tim Kaine of Virginia, has expressed the view that our rights emanating from a Creator is something “the Iranian government believes.” Amazing.
The “everything” in the title of The Story of Everything refers most obviously to the whole universe, the origins of physical existence and of life. But it also includes the ideas that made the United States, at least as we all knew it until very recently, the country that it is.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, what “story” we hold to be true matters as much as it has always done.