Ha, childs play. In sixth grade I was required to write the entire history book longhand before being allowed back in school. I wasn't gonna do it but my Dad convinced me otherwise.
You're making it too difficult on yourself.
There are no inconsistencies except in your mind. Unless you are an anarchist the world has chosen to form governments to secure their rights. That some of those governments are or were horribly constructed and did not protect the rights of their citizens is simply a function of free will.
Some men and thus the governments they serve are evil and therefore fail to in their designated function which is to protect the rights of their citizens.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident...."
This phrase has a clear meaning which you distort by ignoring the word "hold". The authors hold the view that there are basic rights granted by a power other than man such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, ie: property. That you don't see this as truth has no bearing on whether or not they are self evident.
"all men are created equal."
Men are created equal as regards their unalienable rights. Simple stuff Hank. Either you believe that or you embrace Nietczke and might makes right. Some are more equal than others under the law. I don't think so Hank. But you are free to feel that way, it's your right.
"they [men] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights."
Or, in your case, they are either not rights but privileges afforded by men and thus alienable by the strongest man. In other words, all things are possible. Murder, rape, theft, whatever lights your pipe. You like the Mets, I like the Yankees.
"to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men...."
It contradicts nothing. Along with certain unalienable rights, first and foremost of which is the right to life, God also gave man the greatest gift of all, free will. Certain men choose that free will for self aggrandisement and murder, to steal and rape at will. Whatever feels good and perpetuates their gene pool.
Men, recognising that there are men of such bent, organise governments to protect the weak from the strong, the usurptation of their natural rights by evil. The Government's purpose is to enure that all men are treated equal under the law and that might doesn't make right. Ear size and skin color have nothing to do with it.
In my world.
Not at all. It is all quite enjoyable, and you are adding to my enjoyment by taking all this too seriously. That "screed" was rhetorical throughout, but it's intention was nevertheless quite serious. Most men have very little idea what their beliefs really mean.
Take the idea of "rights." What does it mean to have a "right to life"? Does it mean, you have a right to be kept alive at other's expense if you refuse to do what the requirements of your nature demand you do to live. If you refuse to produce, if you are determined to live on the product of other's efforts, does your, "right to life," give you the right to demand that others provide the requirements of your life?
If the word, "rights," has any meaning, here is what it must mean: rights are what you have if you are the only person in the world, or at least, the only person in a geographical area that no one else can get to. You have a right to do, say, or be anything you want, if you can. You do not have a right to life, only a right to do whatever is necessary to stay alive. You do not have a right to food, clothing, or shelter, but you are free to produce as much of these or any other things as you can. You do not have a right to an education, only a right to learn as much as you, by your own effort, are able to learn. You do not have a right to security or safety, only a right to find and employ means to protect yourself from the dangers in this world.
Somehow, most people believe "rights" mean, just because they are born into this world, they automatically deserve to have certain things and to be able to do certain things. This idea is contrary to the nature of the world, the nature of man, and all moral values. The only thing birth gives you, is the ability to learn what you need in this life to live successfully and happily and the ability to do those things you have learned.
The moment you begin to believe you, or anyone else, has a right to anything they have not produced, acquired, or earned by their own effort, you have justified the principle that some people exist to be the slaves and sacrificial animals of others, for whom the product of their efforts must be confiscated to provide what those others have a right to.
The word, "rights," is a bad word. Every liberal, socialist, collectivist, and totaleterian movement in the world is defended with the notion of "rights." The only possible meaning for rights that can be morally useful, is in the negative sense, "you do not have a right to what you have not earned," "you do not have a right to interfere in anyone else's life," "you do not have a right to live at anyone else's expense," " you do not have a right to harm, hurt, or damage anyone else's person or property," etc.
Hank