When I was going to Catholic school in the 1950’s, the nuns made us memorize the Baltimore Catechism, word for word. I still remember much of it today. That was how we were taught our Catholic faith. The problem is that we didn’t really understand what we were memorizing. We simply parroted the responses to each of the questions.
Years later, many of my former classmates no longer practicing Catholics. Those of us who remain in the Church were generally formed in the faith later in life. I firmly believe that anyone who truly knows their Catholic faith would never leave it.
At some point in my early education, I was also required to learn the Declaration of Independence. Like the catechism, I did not fully grasp the significance of the words I was saying at the time. My motivation was to successfully pass the test and get the grade.
The celebration of the Birthday of our great nation this month has brought the Declaration of Independence to the forefront again. Two hundred fifty years later, these words are more relevant than ever. In a world where God is often denied or dismissed, the Declaration of Independence is predicated on the belief that our rights come from God and not from the government.
“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.”
These words mean much more to me now than they did when I first learned them. Our rights come from God and the role of the government is to secure these rights. When rights come from the desires of men, they become malleable. They are anything but secure. We are a nation built on Christian principles. Without God, our foundation is shaky. Thomas Jefferson understood this and expressed it so eloquently. I did not understand as a child. Many adults do not understand today.
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