Progressivism, Finality, and Truth

"You can't handle the truth!"
--Col Nathan Jessup (A Few Good Men)

On July 5th, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge delivered a speech in Philadelphia to mark the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Coolidge demonstrates an understanding of the historical context of this country's founding that few modern presidents have matched. Among the documents that I would like to share and discuss with the young, this would certainly be one of them.

About three quarters of the way down, Coolidge addresses the common Progressive argument, one amplified during the Wilson administration, that, because the world has seen much advancement since 1776, the conclusions reached by those who founded the country, and the laws upon which those conclusions were based, are no longer relevant. Instead, the Progressive argument goes, those outdated ideas should be replaced by something more modern.

Coolidge argues that such reasoning does not apply to to the Declaration because, unlike technological advancements that render prior designs obsolete, the Declaration contains discoveries about natural law that are final and don't change with the wind. If man concludes that all people are created equal, then that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, then that is final. If government derives just power from the consent of the governed, then that is final.

No advance or progress can be made beyond those propositions. Those wishing to deny the soundness of these propositions do not advance forward, but backward to a time when there was no recognition of equality, individual rights, or self rule. Those wishing to proceed backward are not more modern, but more ancient.

What Coolidge is saying is that the Declaration expresses several important findings in man's pursuit of truth. Truth that is durable is final.

Backing away from the propositions of the Declaration equates to backing away from durable truth.