The purpose of this book is to help the young citizens of America to understand how the principles of the American founding are crucial to the pursuit of happiness which is their birthright. More particularly, it is to introduce citizens of high school age to the timeless treasure of the Declaration of Independence. We want to share the good news that America was founded on a creed of human dignity and moral equality that can be the anchor of our common life today, if we can remember and turn to it again.

For many of us, high school is a time of the most intense desires of our lives - for love, truth, justice, and ultimately, for happiness. And the world is full of things that seem to offer us what we want. It is full, as well, of things that threaten the happiness we long for. Suddenly we realize that we are on the brink of, or perhaps already slipping past, decisions and experiences that will actually constitute the sweetness or bitterness of our lives. It is an awesome thing to awaken to the fact that we are shaping, by our choices, what we will be, and that the time to decide has arrived.

Youth has always been wonderful and dangerous. Wonderful, but also dangerous. And in America today there are some particular dangers to the young person just beginning his adult striving for respect and happiness. It is natural to be afraid, in our times, of the swirling currents of violence, drugs, and family instability that are so common.

Our country is at peace, and our material condition is better than ever. Isn't it eerie, even ominous, that so much danger and sudden disruption seem nevertheless to lurk just beyond the edge of even the most secure and stable homes or schools? Can we be safe from these things, or do they threaten us even in the apparently safest places?

Many young people sense, if they cannot always articulate, that the root causes of their fear are the breakdown of the marriage-based family and the rise of a culture of selfishness, epitomized by abortion on demand. A killing spirit is abroad in the land - laws and courts even permit mothers to kill their unborn children!

America has been turning away from the irreplaceable Declaration truths which proclaim and defend the human dignity of even the most weak and vulnerable among us. Kids have a reason to be scared.

At the same time, the rising generation -like many before it - senses that much of the political world of adults is artificial and undeserving of the respect or service it asks from young citizens entering on their civic responsibilities. This too is a great danger, for the flower of political idealism, once wilted, rarely blooms again. A generation of citizens that comes of age having already “learned,” that integrity, honor and patriotism are empty words will be a bitter and disappointed generation.

Politics can either serve truth or serve lies. Much of our national leadership has turned its back on the inspiring Declaration truths that once defined our moral identity as a free people. Is it any surprise that our politics has degenerated into self-serving games of deception? Is it any wonder that our young people have sensed this, and increasingly turn away from politics in disgust, or enter it only to serve their own desires?

Finally, young people today are threatened by a smothering web of patronizing, dehumanizing ideas that rob them of their natural right to mature into self-governing adults. Such influences not only include Hollywood, with its glorification of adolescent male sexuality, but also fashionable ideologies (pop psychology, multiculturalism, radical feminism) that view human beings as passively determined by biological or social forces beyond their control rather than as morally responsible agents made in the image of God. At a time of life when we naturally are concentrating all our strength on the hard work of taking responsible control of our own lives, these influences erode the moral prerequisites of Declaration citizenship.

But we must never, finally, take our counsel from our fears. Evil is strong but by God's grace good can be stronger still. Thanks to the Declaration, the first premise of our political life acknowledges the existence and authority of God. As a people therefore we can draw strength from the wellspring of His righteousness in order to renew the integrity of our families, our schools and our communities. The Declaration proclaims America to be a community of citizens equal in dignity before God their Creator, striving to achieve happiness by governing themselves and then their community, according to the God-ordained laws of our nature. Generations of Americans have come to understand that these principles are the only sure defense against the forces of indiscipline, self-indulgence and unbridled ambition that perpetually threaten to undermine our hopes for peace and justice. As we adhere to these principles, as we extend their purview within a nation that increasingly represents the full diversity of our humanity, we represent not just ourselves but the better destiny of humankind.

In this book we offer an account of the Declaration, and of the Statesmanship based on it, particularly intended for a generation of American citizens coming of age in a time of confusion and doubt. We hope it will help them to become a generation of American citizens determined to secure for themselves and for future generations the blessed peace reserved for those who make right use of God's great gift of liberty.