What has the Declaration's emphasis on natural law done for the United States? Bradley Rebeiro— Wheatley Fellow, associate professor of law at Brigham Young University, and nonresident fellow at Utah Valley University's Center for Constitutional Studies— argues that it has "made fighting for human equality and the natural rights of all the foundation of American patriotism."
This remains true despite the fact that America has struggled to live up to the Declaration's ideals. "Though the persistence of inequality and injustice seem ever-present, the principal reason we continually come back to “reflection and choice” is the natural-rights philosophy of the declaration," Rebeiro writes. "It did not operate in practice to vindicate the rights of all inhabitants on July 4, 1776. But its theory continually brought the American people to account, and it can promise to do so today."
Read the full article at Deseret News.
About the Author
Rebeiro is an Associate Professor of Law at Brigham Young University’s Law School. He recieved his J.D. from BYU Law and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame. Rebeiro's research ranges from US constitutional history to comparative constitutional inquiries, and includes the philosophy of law and the influence of political thought on constitutional jurisprudence.