American history

By Design: Why Natural Law Matters

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John Trumbull’s “Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776”

Cicero, a favorite political philosopher of the Founding Fathers, was the first to speak of Natural Law as a moral or political law.  In his books on the Republic and the Laws, he projected the grandeur and promise of a future society based on Natural Law.  The American Founders had a profound appreciation for Cicero because they shared his vision of a commonwealth of prosperity and justice for themselves and their posterity.  In his writings the Founders recognized the necessary ingredients for the model society they hoped to build.  According to Cicero, true law is “right reason.”  Constant and eternal, it is in accordance with nature.  He characterized the universal law this way:

“There will not be one law at Rome and another at Athens, one now and another later; but all nations at all times will be bound by this one eternal and unchangeable law, and the god will be the one common master and general of all people.  He is the author, expounder, and mover of this law; and the person who does not obey it will be in exile from himself.  Insofar as he scorns his nature as a human being, by this very fact he will pay the greatest penalty, even if he escapes all the other things that are generally recognized as punishments . . .”

Belief in the moral truth of Natural Law inspired the Founders and spurred their quest for independence.  In fact, The Declaration is “an act of obedience to a law that persists beyond the English law and beyond any law that the Founders themselves might make, notes Dr. Arynn, President of Hillsdale College.  It is an act of obedience to the ‘Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,’ and to certain self-evident truths,” primarily the equal and unalienable Rights of all human beings.  To live in ignorance and disregard for the moral principles of Natural Law is to risk exile from life’s ultimate goods like the inestimable blessings of civil and religious liberty.

Personal Note: The Second ‘Near Miss’

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Ty's Karate Kid pose

Ty strikes his best Karate Kid pose! (Anne says he looks like a pink flamingo!)

In my haste to draw conclusions from our ‘near miss‘ at Lake Austin a week ago, I think I may have missed the most important lesson;  the second ‘near miss‘ if you will, or in in the mathematical sense:  ‘near miss squared‘ (the near miss of the near miss).  Sorry, my meticulous nature gets the better of me occasionally!  This occurred as I was relaying the incident to Roger’s great aunt at a family gathering a few days later.

My history of sharing scary kid stories with Aunt Ginger goes way back as we’ve both had terrifying, health-related issues with a child at a young age.  This is the bond we share.  After I relayed the incident,  Aunt Ginger looked squarely at me and stated:  “Well, it wasn’t Ty’s time because IF it WAS, He wouldn’t still be HERE!”   Light bulb!

That’s the take-away . . . as mere mortals we are not in charge!  And Ty’s near miss was a startling reminder of this fact.  Now I know the existence of The Creator, God, is a matter of opinion that is accepted on faith by believers, of which I am one.  But it IS worth noting that our founder’s belief in the equal, natural rights of all human beings forms the moral foundation of our nation.  And so religion, like the Constitution, is just the expression of how we choose to govern ourselves in accordance with that belief.

Benjamin Franklin summarized religion like this:

“Here is my creed:  I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe.  That he governs it by his providence.  That he ought to be worshipped.  That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children.  That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this.  These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion.”

Amen.