I don't disagree with your comments; I agree with them. My challenge is that when we celebrate the 4th, or Memorial Day, we too often glorify war and winning war. I also believe that as long as we continue to glorify war and winning war, we will never put the effort needed into finding peaceful solutions that do not involve weapons, explosives and unnecessary death. I am probably one of the few people who doesn't like fireworks because while they can be beautiful, what they represent is ugly.

Jefferson was totally wrong. There are no such things as "natural rights." That thought was concocted to oppose the "divine right of Kings" that was popular at the time. Go back to Aristotle and you find you are born into a group--family, village and such. Your only right is survival, which you must guard on a 24/7 basis. Lock your doors at nights? Set the alarm on home and cars? Well, anyway you get the idea. The rights given by the state can be changed at any time. Rights theorists sharply differ on what constitutes natural rights. Let us not forget Jefferson was a slaveholder. Note: My politics are independent and middle of the road. But having a degree and graduate study in the subject of Political Science does give me a different view. So "natural," which comes from the word "nature," is a wishful pipe dream that has no legality and is essentially wishful thinking. Rights given by the state are spelled out in law and laboriously debated and clarified by the courts. When you add it all up, wishful thinking is not all that bad as long as we understand how it fits into the scheme of things. So if the concept of natural rights is sacred to you, that's OK. After all, this is a free country.

Thanks for your commentaries. They are always thought-provoking and sometimes behavior-changing.

However, you or your proofreader made a mistake. It is "inalienable," not "unalienable." I'm sure you know this, and it was an oversight.

The dictionary we use is The American Heritage Dictionary (fourth edition). Both words are acceptable. It defines inalienable as "that which cannot be transferred to another or others." It defines unalienable as "not to be separated, given away, or taken away; inalienable."

Many people use "inalienable," often in reference to the Declaration of Independence, erroneously thinking that's the term used in the document. It's not.

In the Declaration of Independence, it's spelled "unalienable" (see Google or Wikipedia). That's why we used that spelling in the commentary. It often happens, though, that whenever people hear or see the rarely used "unalienable," especially referring to the Declaration, they assume it's a mistake.

I agree with Pat that too much emphasis is placed upon war and victory during these holidays. July 4th should emphasize the courage of those declaring our independence from England and the birth of a new nation, yet it is most often mistaken as a celebration of our Revolutionary War victory. Memorial Day is meant to honor those who gave their lives in defense of our freedom, but it has been corrupted into a glorification of American military superiority. And, sadly, Veterans Day has been relegated to an obscure, optional holiday. I’m happy that everyone can celebrate these days – including fireworks. I just wish more people appreciated the real reasons and sacrifices that made these holidays possible.

Allan, nowhere in the Declaration does the term “natural rights” appear.

"The deeper question is whether the pursuit of happiness is an adequate life goal."

Because of this never-ending pursuit of happiness, each of us suffers. More money, more knowledge, better mate, better physique, better career, bigger car, bigger house. It never ends.

How long before we realize that this culture of "pursuit for more" continues to leave us unsatisfied?

How long before we realize that we really need nothing more than food, water, shelter and love? The brain, which generates other unnecessary wants and needs is an extremely unstable entity and is designed to keep generating more wants and needs.

I truly believe the root of the evil is our own brain, which controls us, gives us an illusion of happiness for few moments, and then takes it away so we continue to chase that high called happiness.

We need to stop being salves to our own brain and there is only one way to do this: meditation -- the key to life.

The following is the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence which references "Laws of Nature," also known as "Natural Law," which confers "natural rights":

"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."

It goes on, as follows:
"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."

Of course there is such a thing as "natural rights," which are recognized in courts. Many legal scholars believe that because the Declaration was our first official document, everything subsequent thereto should be interpreted based on the meaning of its language.

The fact that not everyone obeys natural law at all times does not mean it does not exist any more than the fact that people regularly commit robbery means that the laws against that crime are somehow negated by such acts.