Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1527597
D uring the greatest test of the durabilit y of our Constitutional Union, President Abraham Lincoln offered a biblical metaphor to illustrate the intrinsic connection bet ween the Declaration (an apple) and the Constitution (a picture of silver surrounding the apple). "The picture was made not to conceal or destroy the apple," Lincoln proclaimed poetically, " but to adorn and preserve it." The "apple" represents the certain unalienable "natural rights" identified in the Declaration, "life, libert y, and the pursuit of happiness." The Constitution is the picture of silver, whose purpose is to "secure the Blessings of Libert y." The blessings of liberty, therefore, are the principles proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence at the founding of our country: "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 blessings of libert y are the heart of the self-government enumerated by the Constitution and have been in contest since the founding. As Catholics, we must understand the blessings of libert y, "life, libert y, and the pursuit of happiness," through the lens of our faith, and not the lens of a particular ideology or part y platform, lest we misinterpret their meaning and our own obligation to our communit y. These "natural rights" are derived from man's human nature as an inherently communal creature. Too often, "rights" language has devolved into artificial civil rights, unref lective of human nature and damaging to communit y. Therefore a true understanding of the meaning of the blessings of libert y is required to ensure the preservation of the Union, as Lincoln encouraged. To achieve an understanding of the blessings of libert y, one must first examine how the American founders understood them and then compare the civil rights that use the language of the blessings of libert y to violate natural rights, and finally explore human nature and Catholic civic dut y. ⊲ 11 DENVER CATHOLIC | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2024