The seminal American document, which is second to none, that truly represents what this nation aspires to and should still aspire to be, is the incomparable and masterful: Declaration of Independence, this Declaration stands alone as the centerpiece for the formulation and the foundation of America to which we as a people should be wholly appreciative of.
In our Declaration of Independence it states that: "…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." As magnificent as these words are in both their significance and their meaning, one would for sake of argument, take possible exception to the phrase the "pursuit of happiness", and wish instead that Jefferson had written in its place: "freedom of conscience". It is important to recognize that "happiness" as written in our Declaration was not written as some sort of homage toself-pursuit or self-gratification, but meant in that era more of the sense of civic virtue and community good will. That is all to the good, but freedom of conscience, is in actuality, the most important freedom, the most important liberty, the most important gift, granted to us by our Creator, for if we do have true freedom of conscience, to do as our good conscience urges us to do, then and only then are we truly free to pursue happiness.
Freedom of conscience, speaks directly to the individual and that individual's relationship to his Creator, of which the government, as instituted by men, for men, has no right to violate the inviolable. The question must ever be asked, as to whom mankind should answer to, whether that is government in all of its many forms, legitimate or illegitimate, employers of all aspects and types, the dictates of a court of law, arbitrary or not, the barrel of a gun, or to his Creator? The answer is clear, which is why freedom of conscience is and should be, as a matter of course, the true foundation of all human rights.
While the Bible may be read on many levels, the good book is primarily about man's relationship to God, and this pursuit of that relationship, is the most important pursuit of any sensible man's life. The Bible makes it clear again and again, that mankind must make the choice, their choice, of to whom that they will serve, and therefore a legitimate government, recognizes that this government as instituted amongst the people does not have the right, at least not the God-sanctioned right, to impose its will upon the people, in violation of God and man's freedom of conscience.
It is indeed unfortunate that freedom of conscience was not written into our Declaration instead of the pursuit of happiness, because freedom of conscience is the touchstone, that serves to remind and reprimand government, that this is a nation founded on the principle that all men are indeed created equal, that therefore the just powers of the government, any government, comes from the consent of the people, and those people, all of the people, have the unalienable right to freedom of conscience.