Would I deny equality to all men?

One of the comments made on a recent post accused me of denying "equality to all men" apparently for the reason that I do not support same-sex marriage. This raises the issue of what is meant in our legal system by equality and do I believe that supporting the traditional view of marriage would deny equality to all men?

Referring one of the most fundamental of all documents, the Declaration of Independence, we read the following: "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. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

We learn first from this statement that men are created equal and then endowed (gifted) by their Creator." Unlike those who reject religion out of hand and seek to establish a secular humanistic America, I happen to believe the principle set down here in the Declaration of Independence, that men were "created" and that their unalienable rights come from that Creator. These are not rights that are conferred by a secular government or by godless judges, but fundamental rights, tightly related to each person's relationship to that Creator.

This truth is not something that must be proved, because, again in the words of the Declaration of Independence, these truths are self-evident. This means we don't have to keep going back to the legislatures and and the courts to prove these truths to anyone in the world. Where do we go if we wish to know more about these rights? We go back to that Creator. He defines and gives these rights to mankind. We cannot selfishly claim the gift and then reject the gift giver.

I also believe that governments are instituted by that Creator and are subject to Him, or better said, accountable to Him for they way they conduct their affairs. I also believe, as stated in the Declaration of Independence that our actions should be based on the concept of the equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle us and to a decent respect to the opinions of mankind. This means that my ideas are entitled to a decent respect, just as are yours. But that the equal station (state of equality) we all possess comes not from our own individual beliefs, but from the laws of nature and of nature's God.

How then are men equal? They certainly are not equal in any physical sense, some have more of the world's goods and services than other. They are certainly not equal in health, physical beauty or strength. They are not equal in any secular humanistic way at all. They are all equal before God, their Creator, and they are all judged by that God by the same set of rules, the laws of nature and of nature's God.

If you reject nature's laws and nature's God, you will also reject equality, not a counterfeit equality where everyone is reduced to the same base level, but an equality where all are fairly treated and where the laws of nature and of nature's God are respected and observed. Because we, as a society, have standards does not destroy equality before God. What does destroy that equality, is a lack of traditional standards based on a true relationship to God.

That is some of what I believe about equality.