Appealing to a higher authority | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette article reflects on Independence Day and the framers’ framing of government and moral law. It recalls language from the Declaration of Independence about pledging lives, fortunes, and sacred honor and emphasizes the risks taken if the revolution failed. The piece also revisits the Declaration’s references to “natural law” and “nature’s God,” arguing that such concepts are intended to be universal standards rather than specific to one nation or religion. It cites an Episcopal Dictionary of the Church definition of natural law as a universal moral law given by God and knowable through human reason. The author connects these ideas to a broader appeal “to the opinions of mankind,” positioning the founders’ approach as a cross-cultural basis for political legitimacy.