In the words of the Declaration of Independence, government is instituted by men (not God) in order ‘to secure these rights,’
Two things should be noted here. One, the Declaration is not a legal document. That said, the "rights" mentioned were described as coming from a Creator and "unalienable". Government secured or guaranteed them but did not create them. Sure, it's an artifice but one meant to keep government from having any basis to dissolve these rights without "serious consequences," hence, the warning,"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." |
