"The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right; for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man." -GK Chesterton
I love this quote for a few reasons.
1. It says much for the founders of the US and their understanding for power, origins of power, and a greater power - God. Not a king, not an elected official. For they are not God.
2. I think most believers in evolution would be hesitant to say that Warren Buffett is rich because he is a better evolutionary product. It can be said he was lucky or smart; but to even make the claim that he is living "the high life" (although I doubt he drinks Miller) is making a claim for a score keeping system of somekind. An inherent sense of good; right and wrong. It is the love of life that tells us that the cat won when it eats the mouse, it is the same love that misses the hamster when it loses to the vacuum cleaner.
3. The basis for a pure democracy is the equal value of each man. The image of God born by every human.
Side note: In a few places Chesterton expresses his frustration with the upside-down arguments against women's suffrage. It is not that women were beneath the vote; the vote (taking part in a mob action) is something that a woman should not be asked to descend to take part in. It was the same as them not taking part in clearing roadkill - the task is under the dignity of the holders of such beauty.
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