Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look, and a never-changing culture through the lens of

unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

The year before he died, Chuck Colson reflected on the 4th of July and on our national identity

and a very special breakpoint commentary.

Chuck recognized that the only way to ground the ideals that are found in the Declaration

of Independence, especially that all men are created equal and possess certain inalienable

rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is if we are indeed

endowed by our creator.

At stunning clarity in the Declaration of Independence,

in stating that our rights are ultimately granted by God and not the state,

is something that is far too often forgotten today,

and even entirely dismissed.

But it's an essential truth that our rights come from God. Here's Chuck Colson reflecting on this important point. The great British intellectual G.K. Chesterton wrote that

America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed. Think about that for a moment.

Other nations were founded on the basis of race or by the power of kings or emperors who accumulated lands and the peasants who inhabited those lands. But America was,

and is to this day, different. It was founded on a shared belief, or as Chested and said,

a creed. And what is that creed that set us apart? It's the eloquent, profound, simple statement

penned by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. We hold these truths to be self-evident,

that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unable

rights, but among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I'll never forget when I

graduated from Brown University during the Korean War, I couldn't wait to become a Marine officer

...