The Declaration of Independence

IN my opinion, The Declaration of Independence contains one of the most significant statements ever made on governance, politics, leadership, religion, and theology--"Governments [...] deriv[e] their just powers from the consent of the governed." This statement challenged the traditional claims to power.

I know that it was not the first statement of its kind. Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, alludes to the idea when he says, "All me being equals, no one by birth could have the right" to rule others and set his family up above others. There are also many other direct references to the idea that the power of governments is derived from the consent of the people.

I feel that this idea reaches beyond politics. Within a family, the only righteous and ultimately, the only truly efficacious exercise of power of a parent over their children comes as the children consent to be governed by their parents. This, they will do, when the relationship is founded on principles of love, respect, trust, and honesty, all going both ways. A parent child/relationship is hindered by exercising power through force, compulsion, and assumed arbitrary dominion.

As with parenting, the same applies to management and leadership. Lastly, I believe that this system of governance is also employed by God. It is not through force that he directs us, but by our will (faith) that he would lead us. He expects us to walk by faith, not by knowledge. The reason why faith is so important, to my understanding, but it gives the choice--and not just the choice between things we know to be either bad or good, not a choice that is already made for us, but a choice to choose.

I see this same principle at work in American politics today. We, in my opinion, can never know for a fact what is right or wrong in politics (within certain boundaries, of course). We are expected to choose sides, however, on inherently incomplete knowledge. In doing so, we are not just choosing sides, but we are also choosing to choose.

In short, what my ranting here seeks incompletely to express is that power of any kind in any sphere of life should be something that is given or relented freely, and never taken.

An ending note, I like the following definition of Liberty--A general right to resist arbitrary Government.