What does it mean that all men are created equal?
Lately, it seems that there has been much confusion over the meaning of the word “equal”. Some have implied that the meaning of “equal” means “same”. This is not true. “Same” is one special case of equal, like a square is one special case of rectangles. I think someone in my past told me that equal meant “the same”. This has led to some confusion for me.
Equal is a way to compare the value of a property of something. So when you say two or more things are equal, the question is “in what aspect?” Take height, for example. You can find two people who have the same height. They are equal in height. That does not mean that the two different people are equal. It just means that the value of their height is the same.
In mathematics, the equals sign is useful in determining the numerical value of an expression. The equation 7=7 is not useful, because we already know that 7 is the same as 7. The expression a=7 is much more useful. This equates the numerical value of the variable “a” with the known value of the number 7.
In the Declaration of Independence, it states that “. . . all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . .” The word equal is in reference to the value of each individual’s rights, in comparison to the value of another person’s rights. Your rights are no more valuable than my rights. The rights of an important or popular person are no more important than an unknown person. Age does not make that person’s rights any more or less important than any other person’s. Wealth does not increase rights. Since all people share the same value in rights, there is no privileged class recognized in the United States of America. The word equal did not mean that every person was created with the same potential, characteristics, or that every person’s outcome would be equal either.
The phrase “all men are created the same” is very different from the phrase “all men are created equal”. We obviously know that everyone is different. No two people are the same. When we look at the phrase “all men are created equal”, it begs the question, “what aspect are we comparing?” We are comparing the value of each individual’s rights. One person’s rights cannot override another person’s rights.
Joel Skousen defines fundamental rights as “those rights to act, or to be, which all persons can do or possess simultaneously without compelling any other person to provide a service or tangible asset.”
When the founding fathers created the Declaration of Independence, they did not place any qualifiers on the phrase “all men”. This includes all races, religions, and both sexes. This leads us to the question of slavery. Slavery places the rights of the slave-owner above the rights of the slave, thus creating inequality. This is contrary to all men being created equal, and contrary to the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
Should there be inequality in rights? If one person achieves more wealth, learning, or power, does that entitle him to infringe on other’s rights? The answer is no. The reason is that all mankind are spiritually children of God, and God is not a respecter of persons. This means that even God does not value one person above another. Without this belief, people in power are tempted to, or actually become tyrannical.
The phrase “all men are created equal” means that everyone is entitled to enjoy the same fundamental rights.
Originally posted August 29, 2013
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