God given equality, rights, and personal happiness?

[Neighbor]

Hi OrangeCat, thanks for the articulate and well thought out  presentation! It should provide to me material to look into regarding my question. I do appreciate it.

[Neighbor]

Hi all, Well I am surprised that the covenant made with the Antichrist has not been mentioned as a covenant made by man or a nation. And the account in Daniel of the failures of men to keep their covenant relationship  under God's covenant.

God does not fail, but it seems man always does. Seems maybe it is better to keep  under the wing of God's protective covenants than to  go about boldly declaring of one's made by men or other spirits. Perhaps simply letting a yes be yes and a no being no than declaring  never never will I fail you LORD and then hearing  the rooster crowing....

But I guess man can make covenants, of many kinds, that I had not thought much about, except to think as I read that with precious few exceptions mentioned of men within the Bible man does not keep them for long.

Thanks for all the discussion so far shared on this question. It is helpful- to me anyway.

[Marathoner]

6 hours ago, AnOrangeCat said:

I'm skeptical of it. I think these are things God wants for us. Loving our neighbor as ourselves moves us closer to liberty, equality, and happiness for sure. James mentions a "law of liberty" and "the law that gives freedom" (exact wording may vary according to translation). OT law improved upon Hammurabi's law in ways that raised the standard more toward equality. But a "right"? Especially an "unalienable" right as declared in the preamble?

Just looking at life for starters seems to rule it out. Unalienable means it's something that can't be taken away. We know God keeps His promises. He brought down the great flood because people had become so wicked. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. He hit Egypt with plagues. There are plenty more examples, and He's just in all of them. Jesus told us to fear God, who could destroy us in Hell.

Liberty? The Israelites found themselves in slavery on multiple occasions as a disciplinary action. Hebrews 12:6-7 tells us that when God disciplines us it's a sign of His love. Paul also reminds us that while we have liberty, not all things are profitable to us.

Pursuit of happiness? Jonah would have been happier if God hadn't spared Nineveh. Jeremiah? He seemed called to sorrow. Jesus gave up the pursuit of happiness in Gethsemane when He prayed for the cup to pass from Him but concluded His prayer with submission to God's will over His own.

Overall I think the preamble expresses fine ideas and is something to strive for, but calling those things unalienable rights is a stretch. There's a lot in the Bible that expresses God desires these things for us within specific contexts. Pursuit of happiness for some could include freedom to do whatever they want sexually with whoever they want, which is flat out contrary to Biblical commands and thus outside of that context.

That's an important distinction to be made and I'm glad you touched upon it; we aren't discussing the merits of ideals expressed in the preamble. I'm certainly not. 

Discussing historical origins does not entail debating the merits. Personally, I feel that equality among men and women is something we ought to look toward. We aren't the Lord... much is hidden from our sight... and because of this, our judgment alone is flawed and falls short. Better to err for the sake of mercy and goodwill than argue for harsh and inequitable treatment. 

I abstain from making claims of cultural superiority because that's silly and doesn't hold true. I've lived in other nations and I know better than that. 

Only the Lord is perfect. We are not.