Justice Clarence Thomas: The progressive invasion of the Declaration of Independence
On April 15, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who has served on the court since 1991, delivered a memorable address at the University of Texas at Austin. I cannot imagine a better way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday than by reading, listening to or watching Justice Thomas’ inspiring and informative oration.
Justice Thomas eloquently captures the radical, revolutionary nature of the Declaration of Independence, whose full meaning and implications we are still seeking to understand.
Drawing on Judeo-Christian principles, the Founders articulated a radically new view of government, a view that proclaimed that all human beings possess inherent rights and that government can only recognize, respect and protect those rights — not grant or remove them.
The Declaration summed up this new, world-shattering philosophy with admirable brevity:
“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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Justice Thomas points out that this revolutionary American doctrine is implemented through the U.S. Constitution, whose separation of powers (federalism) creates a republic governed by laws, not a democracy governed by majority vote.
In 1787, as the Constitutional Convention adjourned, Benjamin Franklin was asked what sort of government the delegates had created. Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Justice Thomas then narrates the rise of progressivism and its advances in America in the early 20th century through figures such as President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) and public education giant John Dewey (1859–1952), who challenged the premises of the Declaration and the Constitution.
Wilson, Dewey and other disciples imported progressivism from Otto von Bismarck’s Germany and its “state-centric society.” They actively opposed the principles of “equality and natural rights.” To progressives, nothing was “self-evident.”
“Wilson redefined ‘liberty’ not as a natural right antecedent to the government, but as ‘the right of those who are governed to adjust government to their own needs and interests.’ In other words, liberty no longer preceded the government as a gift from God, but was to be enjoyed at the grace of the government.”
Dewey and other progressives rejected the Founders’ belief that their ideas were immutable and argued that those ideas were “historically conditioned, and relevant only to their own time.”
Justice Thomas describes progressives’ relentless assault over more than a century against America’s foundational documents. He then reminded listeners of the terrible consequences of progressive ideas in Europe and elsewhere.
“But we were fortunate not to trade our Lockean bounds for the supposedly enlightened world of Hegel, Marx, and their followers. Fascism — which, after all, was a national socialism — triggered wars in Europe and Asia that killed tens of millions. The socialism of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China proceeded to kill more tens of millions of their own people. This is what happens when natural rights give way to the higher good of notions of history, progress, or, as Thomas Sowell has written, the ‘vision of the anointed.’”
Justice Thomas approvingly quoted President Calvin Coolidge’s comment on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration: “If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final.”
Justice Thomas acknowledges that progressive attacks have damaged Americans’ understanding of and appreciation for the unique greatness of the Declaration and the Constitution. Surveys reveal that significant numbers of Americans are currently confused about the meaning and profound truth of the American Revolution.
I must confess that as I listened to Justice Thomas’ speech, I found myself thinking two thoughts. First, I pray Justice Thomas will continue to serve on the Supreme Court for many more years.
Second, I kept drifting off in my mind’s eye to a tall, gaunt figure on a Pennsylvania battlefield, giving what is surely the greatest speech ever given by our greatest president. Just then, Justice Thomas began to refer to the Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln, speaking to the assembled crowd at Gettysburg and encouraging them to look to the past as inspiration to take them to greater heights in the future.
“It is rather for us,” Lincoln said, “to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
May it ever be so!
Dr. Richard Land, BA (Princeton, magna cum laude); D.Phil. (Oxford); Th.M (New Orleans Seminary). Dr. Land served as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary from July 2013 until July 2021. Upon his retirement, he was honored as President Emeritus and he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theology & Ethics. Dr. Land previously served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) where he was also honored as President Emeritus upon his retirement. Dr. Land has also served as an Executive Editor and columnist for The Christian Post since 2011.
Dr. Land explores many timely and critical topics in his daily radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” and in his weekly column for CP.
