During his 1984 trip to China, President Ronald Reagan spoke to Chinese college students of America’s commitment to the “self-evident truths” of its founding. Reading from the Declaration of Independence, he affirmed America’s foundational moral principles: All humans are created equal, and valued equally, by God. God grants every person on earth certain inalienable rights, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
President Reagan emphasized the importance of religion in living out these truths: “[Our faith is] why we wish well for others. It’s why it grieves us when we hear of people who cannot live up to their full potential.” Americans, he said, have even used their freedom to fight and die while protecting the freedom of others.
He told the students that their American peers had “committed to memory” the self-evident truths of the Declaration. His implicit message was that America’s students know that human equality, freedom, and dignity are given by God and not by the state. The state’s duty is to secure the inalienable rights of its citizens, especially religious freedom.
No American president could truthfully make such a statement today. Two hundred and fifty years since our nation’s founding, the public conscience has begun to replace its fidelity to inalienable rights and religious freedom with a state-enforced commitment to radical human autonomy. The reasons for this authoritarian shift are not new, but its emergence in the mainstream is led by the Democratic Party and our elite educational institutions.
https://t.co/4E3naneYGj Two hundred and fifty years since our nation’s founding, the public conscience has begun to replace its fidelity to inalienable rights and religious freedom with a state-enforced commitment to radical human autonomy.
— Public Discourse (@PublicDiscourse) July 1, 2026
