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
---
I firmly agree that rights are not a matter of contract. Contracts are legal promises among men. A binding agreement that action 'A' will result in action 'B'.
Since our rights are not given by man, what agent is responsible and by what authority?
By saying that the rights we enjoy are not endowed by a Creator is an attempt to erase the first two paragraphs of the D of I.
America was not built on moral relativism.
If the Declaration of Independence had simply said: "Hey, England, go stuff it! We're through with you guys!" we'd still have the same rights.
Sure it was. At the same time the Founding Fathers were extolling the virtues of liberty, an entire segment of the population was being held in involuntary servitude.
Moral absolutes are all well-and-good in theory, but come up lacking when they collide with reality.