Although some of America’s Founding Fathers were deists, rather than Christians, the United States owes a debt of gratitude to a Judeo-Christian moral framework that goes beyond mere deism—and the proof is in the Declaration of Independence itself. Deism refers to the belief that God created the world and endowed human beings with reason, but after that, he left the world alone to develop naturally. Deists prefer a largely absent God who just set things in motion and then stands back, hoping everyone has a good time. The Declaration of Independence does not envision such a God, and the document could not have formed the cornerstone of the American Revolution without a firm declaration that God—not government—is the foundation of just rule. Here are the four times the Declaration mentions God: 1. The Laws of Nature and Nature’s God … The very opening of the Declaration features a reference to God (bold emphasis added): When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. The Declaration states that the God revealed in nature also gave a moral law between peoples, a law to which the American colonies appeal in their claim to have the right to become free and independent states. This moral lawgiver arguably goes beyond deism in stating a natural law that traces back to a divine lawgiver. 2. Endowed by Their Creator … The Declaration roots unalienable rights not in reason but in God: 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. According to the Declaration, the ultimate source of rights is not the government or the will of the people, but God. 3. The Supreme Judge of the World … The Declaration of Independence does not just root unalienable rights in God; it also appeals to God as the ultimate judge determining the rightness of the colonists’ cause: We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; This version of God is more than just an absent creator or a disembodied lawgiver; he also resolves disputes, and the newly independent Americans claim that he endorses the rightness of their cause. This God of judgment aligns less with deism than theism, specifically Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. While some deists did believe in an afterlife, many did not. 4. The Protection of Divine Providence … As if to banish any doubt that they did not have the deist version of God in mind, the authors of the Declaration of Independence state their belief that God is involved in the world: And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor. “Providence” refers to the idea that God provides for the world and its people. Christians believe that God upholds the entire universe, and the Declaration’s signers put their faith in God’s ability to protect them from the most powerful empire on earth at the time: the British. (After all, the British had just won a massive war, acquiring colonies across the globe and dismantling much of the French colonial empire at the time). Although Thomas Jefferson notoriously tore up the New Testament, rejecting parts of the Bible he didn’t like, he nevertheless wrote a document that rejects the fundamental tenet of deism. The signers of the Declaration didn’t just root the rightness of their cause in God and his laws—they expressed their reliance on God’s involvement in the world and trusted that he would make them succeed in their cause. Why Does It Matter? The Declaration of Independence’s references to God matter for two reasons. First, they illustrate a fundamental difference from the anti-religious and anti-clerical French Revolution, which threw out much of the Judeo-Christian tradition along with the monarchy. Unmoored, that revolution devoured its own, and France is currently on its fifth republic—which came after a republic, an empire, another monarchy, a separate monarchy, another republic, another empire, a third republic, a fourth republic, and the current republic that began in 1958. Second, the Declaration’s references to God illustrate the Founders’ belief that religion actually bolstered liberty. As President John Adams wrote in his letter to the Massachusetts militia in 1798, “we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.” “Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net,” Adams wrote. “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” As America becomes increasingly less religious, it has become more tribal as Americans fill the spiritual void with identity politics, making for a harsher public square. The Founders looked to faith as a bulwark of freedom, and rooted their arguments in God, not the right of one group over another. America today could stand to learn from this example. The post 4 Times the Declaration of Independence Mentions God and Why It Matters appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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200 missing children were rescued in a nationwide operation conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service and other agencies. “Operation We Will Find You 2” was a six-week operation conducted in seven federal judicial districts from May 20th to June 24th. “The U.S. Marshals Service’s six-week “We Will Find You 2″ operation from May 20 to June 24 found 200 missing children with help from @NCMEC. 123 were removed from danger and 77 were found safe. The youngest was 5 months old,” the U.S. Marshals Service stated. The U.S. Marshals Service's six-week "We Will Find You 2" operation from May 20 to June 24 found 200 missing children with help from @NCMEC . 123 were removed from danger and 77 were found safe. The youngest was 5 months old.https://t.co/F2MvLcVlcM pic.twitter.com/rIgdYZPh6M — U.S. Marshals Service (@USMarshalsHQ) July 1, 2024 From the U.S. Marshals Service: With technical assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Operation We Will Find You 2 resulted in the recovery and removal of 123 children from dangerous situations. An additional 77 missing children were located and found to be in safe locations, according to law enforcement or child welfare agencies. Of the 200 children found, 173 were endangered runaways, 25 were considered otherwise missing, 1 was a family abduction and 1 was a non-family abduction. The youngest child recovered was 5 months old. 14 of the children were found outside the city where they went missing. Additionally, of the missing children recovered, 57 percent were recovered within seven days of the USMS assisting with the case. “There are no words to describe the terror felt by missing children, their families, and their communities,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “I am grateful to the dedicated professionals of the U.S. Marshals Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who worked to find 200 critically missing children during this six-week operation, and who work every day to keep children safe.” “One of the most sacred missions of U.S. Marshals Service, is locating and recovering our nation’s critically missing children,” said U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald L. Davis. “This is one of our top priorities as there remain thousands of children still missing and at risk.” “Operation We Will Find You is a shining example of the results we can achieve when we unite in our mission to find missing children,” said Michelle DeLaune, President and CEO of NCMEC. “We are grateful that vulnerable children have been recovered as part of this operation, and we commend the U.S. Marshals Service and all the agencies involved for their commitment to protect youth and ensure these children are not forgotten. Behind every statistic, there is a child who deserves to grow up safe from harm.” The @USMarshalsHQ saved 200 kids during “Operation We Will Find You 2.” Thank you to the brave Marshals for combating the horrors of human trafficking.https://t.co/GNT4SpySAM — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 2, 2024 US Marshals Find 200 Missing Children in Nationwide Operation “This is one of our top priorities as there remain thousands of children still missing and at risk.”said USMS Director Ronald Davis.https://t.co/KqLZF1NN2l — The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) July 2, 2024 The operation was conducted in the following locations: District of Arizona (Phoenix, Glendale, Goodyear, Tucson, South Tucson, and Pima counties) Eastern District of California (San Joaquin County, Stockton, and Sacramento County) Southern District of Florida (Broward, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties) Western District of Michigan (Kent, Lake, Ingham, Ottawa, counties) Eastern District of North Carolina (New Hanover, Brunswick, Harnett, Onslow, Pitt, Wake, Johnston, Robeson, Cumberland, Sampson, Nash, and Pender counties) The Southern and Eastern districts of New York (New York City) The District of Oregon (Multnomah, Washington, and Deschutes counties, as well as Portland and Eugene, and the Warm Springs Reservation) WATCH: U.S. Marshals find 200 missing children across the nation during ‘Operation We Will Find You 2’ pic.twitter.com/BN3TNg7NkG — Reshad Hudson (@ReshadHudson) July 1, 2024 Fox News reports: U.S. Marshals worked with federal, state and local law enforcement, NCMEC, the Department of Children and Family Services and other agencies to locate the missing children. Many of the children were considered to be in challenging recovery cases, including child sex trafficking, child exploitation, sexual abuse, physical abuse and suffering from medical or mental health conditions. For instance, on June 13, USMS recovered a 16-year-old girl who was reported missing from her home in Edwardsburg, Michigan, by her legal guardian on Jan. 11, 2024. An investigation determined the child was likely being controlled and abused by an adult man, who reportedly shared photos of cash and firearms on his social media page. In one photo, USMS said, an adult man was pointing a handgun with an extended magazine at the missing child. During the rescue, USMS went to arrest the man at an apartment in Hammond, Indiana, when he jumped out of a window and attempted to flee. He was ultimately apprehended and arrested. The child was located inside the apartment before being released to child protective services.

Joe Biden blamed extensive foreign travel for his disastrous debate performance last week against Donald Trump. Biden reportedly said at a fundraiser that it “wasn’t very smart” to travel “around the world a couple times” before the debate. “I almost fell asleep on stage,” Biden reportedly added. “Biden is now blaming his disastrous debate performance on a flurry of international travel — even though he spent a full week holed away at Camp David before the debate,” RNC Research wrote. Not even CNN is buying Biden’s excuse. WATCH: Biden is now blaming his disastrous debate performance on a flurry of international travel — even though he spent a full week holed away at Camp David before the debate. CNN's MJ Lee: "I find it a little bit puzzling." pic.twitter.com/RXPjPzM2gr — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 2, 2024 From the New York Post: President Biden on Tuesday claimed foreign travel left him so tuckered out that he nearly “fell asleep” during his disastrous debate performance last week — even though he had 13 days to recover from his most recent trip abroad, including a full week at Camp David with afternoon naps. The 81-year-old commander in chief provided the new excuse as he faces mounting calls from fellow Democrats to step aside and allow a new presidential nominee ahead of the Nov. 5 election. “I decided to travel around the world a couple of times… shortly before the debate,” Biden told Democratic donors in McLean, Va. “It wasn’t very smart [to be] traveling around the world a couple times.” “I didn’t listen to my staff… and then I almost fell asleep on stage,” the president added. Just in: Biden is blaming his travel schedule for his poor debate performance, “I decided to travel around the world a couple of times shortly before the debate I  didn’t listen to my staff and then I almost fell asleep on stage” He spent a week at Camp David before the debate pic.twitter.com/Oo4Cshckrp — The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) July 2, 2024 WATCH: Biden claimed at a fundraiser "I almost fell asleep on stage," during the debate per CBS. And CNN is reporting some top Democrats want Biden out of the presidential race as early as this week. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/wG3kjRGCpv — Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) July 3, 2024 Per NBC News: It wasn’t immediately clear to what extent Biden was joking about almost falling asleep. Cameras aren’t allowed into his fundraisers, and the media relies upon written pool reports. Biden has a track record of making frank or unexpected comments at fundraisers. In apologizing for his lackluster performance, he also stressed that it was “critical” to defeat former President Donald Trump in November. Biden last month went to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day and then returned to the U.S. before he departed for the Group of Seven Summit in Italy. He then had a Los Angeles fundraiser and later spent several days at Camp David, Maryland preparing for the debate. Biden continues to defend his ability to take on Trump after a debate performance punctuated by a raspy voice and rhetorical missteps that left many Democrats anxious.

Oakland’s groove metal heroes played a stack of anthems amid fire and smoke in France last weekend