All men are not created equal?

Question

The American Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, begins

"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."


But all men are not created equal. There are those born into poverty. Those created with disabilities. Those that are ill, insane, disadvantaged.


What gives ?

Creation starts at the very beginning of conception. It lasts all the way through pregnancy until birth. Yet even at the very beginning creation is not equal. We have people with gene defects - down syndrome. Are you saying they are not humand ?

Eh ? Someone wrote that deficiencies and defects are a test from God ! In which case why is it some people are tested and others are not. That doesnt imply people are equal does it ?

Now I am getting answers that imply that the statement is about god given rights. But another answer saying it is rights under law. But isnt Law written by man !!

Answer 1

All men are created equal - however some are more equal than others (animal farm)

Answer 2

But all men ARE created equal. That statement means that we all have God-given rights, which no one can take away. One's financial status or state of being has nothing to do with how free you are. I know people who are in such terrible circumstances, but they are happy. They have their freedom of choice, their life, which is allowed to them by God, and they have the ability to make their lives better. We all do.
Jefferson was a wise man. If you don't consider this in a deeper sense, it's easy to think that some injustice has been done, but that is not the case. God doesn't create the injustices. People do, but we all have some input as to how our lives go, and in turn the ability to improve the quality of them.

Answer 3

If certain people are created with deficiencies or otherwise I think that's a test from God. He wants us to be patient if deficient and thankful if otherwise (the case in Islam at least). Life is like an examination, either you succeed or fail. There will be no inequalities in the Hereafter. Hope that's a consolation. If you're atheist, try some other answers!

Answer 4

Humanity is not born equal in the sense of body, mind, or spirit. There are those born with athletic gifts and others with crippling diseases, those with superior mental abilities, and those with mental deficiencies.

No, the founding fathers recognized that humanity was greater than any one person or condition. They believed and fought for the ideal that all men should be equal in opportunity, and that no man should be denied his right to improve and progress their lot in life.

Man is meant to be free to pursue his life, liberty, and happiness.
Government ensures that those rights don't trample upon another's.

Answer 5

they should all be treated equally under law. but i agree people are not equal in many respects.

indeed all deserving of the freedom to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. the last being vague, and don't forget they had 100 yrs of slavery after declaring all men equal.

Answer 6

Nonsence, of course all men are not created equal, this is common sense. All men may have been created with equal rights under the law but that is it.

Answer 7

i think of you ran into themes once you acquire to observe #4, no longer to show word #5. Ignoring that minor factor, i think of the respond is a diverse "No, they do no longer seem to be equivalent". despite the fact that, morally we've an crucial to pretend that they are. right this is two motives why: -- no longer being equivalent does no longer recommend the existence of a few style of order, i.e. that we can say that one guy or woman is extra effectual than yet another. we can degree a style of components of a guy or woman (in line with hazard quantitatively, in line with hazard in simple terms qualitatively), and we can comprise those components into some style of assessment between human beings. despite the fact that, we can try this in lots of methods. As absolutely everyone who's performed some optimisation, there are a number of, many methods of optimising for numerous variables, and that there is not any such concern through fact the "objectively maximum suitable" thank you to study human beings. on the grounds that human beings are stupid, human beings will make up their very own way of evaluating human beings, and declare it fairly is the "objectively maximum suitable way" besides, so we tend to motivate human beings to think of of others as efficiently equivalent. -- no longer all ameliorations are correct for a given assessment, and a lot of times determining ameliorations are the two prohibitively confusing, or require absurd infringements of the guy's privateness. different ameliorations could be controlled or replaced by potential of the strategies of the guy. as an occasion, if i'm hiring adult men to advance fixtures for a removals corporation, i ought to establish that the dimensions of their penis replaced right into a reliable indicator of their testosterone stages (I have not got any theory no count if or no longer they are or no longer), which might point out the ability. despite the fact that, checking it fairly is an invasion of their privateness, and the adult men with small penises who opt to bulk up on the wellness club will gain this a lot extra effectual on elementary than the adult men with super penises who do no longer. wish that helps!

Answer 8

You have to look at the definition of what was considered to be a man when that was written. At the time a man was concidered a white male landowner. As time has gone its been interpreted more liberally to include all humankind.

Answer 9

created equal at the moment of birth. after that it's what you make of it. no matter if you are rich or poor we all still have the right of to live life out own way, be free doing it and try to be happy.

Answer 10

what he meant was that we are all born equal not as it pertains to status but as humans. We all have certain rights that can not be taken away from us. Thats what he meant in a nutshell