Jefferson claimed that “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time.” But this “us” is a very narrow slice of the human race. As Rosenstock-Huessy says, “The obvious weakness of the new-born child, of the old man, of the dependent servant, of the ill or weak-minded man, the bondage of irrational loyalties, even the slow growth of man into independence, contradict Jefferson’s idea that life and liberty were ‘simultaneously’ given to man.”
In the light of this, the claim that life and liberty are simultaneous begins to look like an inhuman doctrine: What are we to say about the citizenship, or the humanity, of the weak and dependent?
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Moral Certitude and the Iran War
The current military engagement with Iran calls renewed attention to just war theory in the Catholic tradition.…
The Slow Death of England: New and Notable Books
The fate of England is much in the news as popular resistance to mass immigration grows, limits…
Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War
What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…
