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Most Americans are very familiar with the section of our Declaration
of Independence which speaks of "all men" as having been "created
equal" and having been "endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights." These assertions are at the very core of the
philosophy of government upon which our republic was built. They also
are essential doctrines in the American view of human rights and
individual freedom. What most of us have not noticed about these
statements, however, is their relation to the belief that God is our
Creator. We do notice that creation and the Creator are referenced in
this section of our founding document, but most have never considered
the important connection between belief in divine creation and belief
in equal rights for all men. Of course, the debate between Biblical
Creationism and Biological Evolution continues to occupy a prominent
spot on the national stage, producing both the passage and repeal of
state laws and school policies, as well as heated arguments at board
meetings and public rallies. But the opponents of creationism either
fail or refuse to acknowledge the role this debate will play in the
future of freedom.
What does it mean that "all men are created equal"? This question has
been controversial almost since the words were written down.
Certainly these words cannot mean that every human being is endowed
with equal intelligence, equal abilities, equal opportunities, equal
physical strength and health, or equal motivation and drive. If the
statement did mean this, it would be obviously false. The argument of
the Declaration is that men are of equal worth and deserve equal
standing before the law. This concept points necessarily to the role
of Deity as the Creator of all men. To Whom do all men have equal
value and worth? Why should all men, regardless of the class or race
into which each one was born, be afforded equal privileges and rights
before the state? For the founders of our nation, the answer to these
questions is found in belief that God is man's Creator. We all are
loved and valued equally by Him, and therefore deserve equal
treatment.
Another fact that is not fully appreciated by most Americans is the
fact that the theory of evolution has always been entwined with
racism. Actually it is inherently racist. Charles Darwin's great
book, The Origin of Species, was subtitled The Preservation of
Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Some of the most notorious
examples of genocide were perpetrated on the premise that certain
people were inferior because of some quirk in evolution. This can be
historically proven about the massacre of the Tasmanian aborigines by
the English, the extermination of the Herero tribesmen in German
Southwest Africa before World War I, as well as the Jewish Holocaust
in World War II. The gradual development of human races from lower to
higher types justifies the classification of men into unequal
categories. Modern evolutionists want to restrict this grouping to
the ancient past, but such restrictions were not followed by earlier
evolutionists. Certainly, at the very least, the theory implies the
possibility that the human family today is made up of individuals that
differ widely in their value to the world. Of course, men vary in
their abilities or size or strength, but may we qualify men as more or
less advanced or significant based on such things? In other words,
the less intelligent or culturally sophisticated are regarded by
evolutionists as more animal-like and in a sense less human. The
minds that gave us the Declaration of Independence would dispute the
idea that human beings have less value if they are not as smart or
speak a less complicated language or live simpler lives. But this
business is an integral part of evolution. The only way to conceive
of all men as equal is to see them as equally loved by the
Creator-God.
Both Moses and Jesus said,
"Love thy neighbor as thyself"
(Leviticus
19:18 and Matthew 22:39). This divine command affirms that all men
are created equal, that is, equally cherished by God. The truth is
that these words from the Bible had such an impact on our forefathers'
generation that they incorporated this concept into their views of
just government. Belief in the Creator-God of the Bible was crucial
to the establishment of human freedom as a foundational principle of
our republic. People are not equal in any understandable sense except
as they are equally valued by their Creator. If they have no Creator,
there is no reason for their rights to be equally recognized and
respected.
The Creation-Evolution controversy is more than a debate between
science and religion. It is touches the fundamental concept behind
the American passion for human freedom. Societies that reject God and
specifically those that reject the idea of God as our Creator soon
abandon any commitment they ever had to individual liberty and equal
rights. Without question, nineteenth-century Darwinism gave birth to
twentieth-century Fascism, Naziism, and Communism. If godless
evolution is followed here, eventually the rationale behind our
freedom will fade and freedom itself will die in America.
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