Developing Symbols: In General (Continuation IV)
The colonists and founders of the USA held the third belief. Believing that a Creator exists, they were against the arbitrary laws determined by England’s parliament. But, they did not agree with the naturalists that morals are to be found in the laws of the nature of man. In the Declaration of Independence, they say that God entitled man with ‘Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.’ They agreed with the naturalists, who believe that Laws of Nature exist. But, they also thought that Laws of Nature’s God also exist and govern the moral life of man.
Since the field of law in the USA did not include the Declaration of Independence in the body of US laws, the third belief did not become part of the life of US citizens. History tells one that Abe Lincoln was the last US leader to use the Declaration of Independence. In my book, I discuss this action of the field of law and conclude that this action was a linguistic error in the philosophy of symbolism.
Some of the founders seemed to work hard to make sure that we would understand the meanings of the words they were using in the founding documents. The works of Ben Franklin and James Madison show that they were very sensitive to symbols and the weakness of the philosophy of symbolism. Franklin’s review of Thomas Jefferson’s draft version of the Declaration of Independence and Madison’s work on The Federalist papers show us of their sensitivities. In the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence, for instance, Franklin changes the phrase ‘the people’ to ‘one people.’ This change aligns the USA to a monotheistic God. And, in Federalist No. 10, Madison tries to protect the US government against the political powers of special interest groups.
Neither of these efforts saved the US citizens from ‘atheism’ and the ‘special interest groups.’ Clearly, the error of our lawyers on the Declaration of Independence has caused many national US problems. This error has also formed a federal government that would alarm the founders if they were living today. Needless to say, the US government has no interest in developing symbols or improve our knowledge of the philosophy of symbolism.