ns of securing the needs of all Puritans. If the Puritans deal falsely with God, they will doom themselves in the eyes of others to being a poor example of Godlessness. The survival of the Puritan ôcity on a hillö is directly related to the degree to which they follow the prescriptions of God to view each other as components of one whole, united in brotherhood, compassion, and love. Winthrop (1630) maintains that if the Puritans are unable to achieve this level of devotion to God, they ôshall surely perish out of the good landö (12). Instead, he admonishes the Puritans to ôchoose lifeö by obeying God and clinging to His way in order to secure ôlife and propertyö for all (Winthrop 1630, 12). WinthropÆs ideas outlined nearly 400 years ago, inspired and influence the leadership of President Ronald Reagan, who often referred to America as a ôshining city on a hill.ö
Winthrop, J. (1630). A Model of Christian Charity. Viewed on Sep 10, 2004: http://www.winthropsociety.org/charity.htm
The Declaration of Independence (1776) outlines the reasons the thirteen colonies believed they had the right to separate all ties with Great Britain. Among these rights are the natural rights of man as adopted from RousseauÆs social contract. Jefferson (1776) writes that all men are equal in the sense that they are endowed by God with ôcertain unalienable Rightsö, among them being ôLife, Liberty and the pursuit of Happinessö (1). The document is also used to explain the purpose of government, which is to secure such rights for the governed. The document also asserts that the power of any government stems from the ôconsent of the governedö (Jefferson 1776, 1). Jefferson (1776) maintains that when the governed believe that the government in power is not securing these rights for the governed, then the governed have the right to ôalter or abolishö such a government (1).
Despite JeffersonÆs (1776) argument that the gover...