The courage to defend the Declaration
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas argued that America’s civic renewal depends on recovering the first principles of the Declaration of Independence, especially the truth that our rights come from God, not government.
Thomas remarks were delivered on April 15 at the University of Texas, Austin, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
There are a lot of great lines in the speech but one of the best echoes Calvin Coolidge, where Thomas warns that progressivism is ultimately “retrogressive” because it rejects the Declaration’s commitment to natural rights, equality, and limited government. Progressives instead prefer a state-centered view in which liberty is granted at the government’s discretion.
“Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence, and hence our form of government,” declared Thomas. “It holds that our rights and our dignities come not from God, but from the government. It requires of the people a subservience and weakness incompatible with a Constitution premised on the transcendent origin of our rights.”
In his view, the real task before Americans is to have the courage to defend the Declaration’s enduring truths and to renew a deeper civic understanding of freedom, responsibility, and self-government. Thomas cites federalism as an essential component to limiting the authority of the government.
Thomas is deeply concerned that Americans may have lost the courage to defend the Declaration’s enduring truths, and in my view that concern is well founded.
This is an important speech because Thomas moves beyond the all too common platitudes and civic cheerleading to offer a critique of progressivism that truly engages the political pathologies of our time.
—Ray Nothstine
— The Federalism Beat