One of the reasons I supported Newt Gingrich is because he is a historian. In this season, we truly need someone who has sound historical awareness of the original roots of this nation. Newt Gingrich is one of those people.

I am going back to one of the speeches he made in regards to why liberals are wrong in their interpretation of the Declaration of Independence.

Liberals interpret “pursuit of happiness” that everyone should pay for their “pursuit of happiness”. For example, one current liberal premise is that taxpayers should pay for birth control or abortions for those who seek such lifestyles in the “pursuit of happiness”.

However, and this is why we need historians to teach us, Newt Gingrich pointed out in one of his speeches (it was posted many posts ago on this site) that the “pursuit of happiness” in the historical reference of the founding fathers meant the “pursuit of wisdom and virtue”.

Since killing babies is not virtuous we can safely assume that the founding fathers did not include this kind of activity in their meaning of the “pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence.

There is a saying that “those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. The only way we can learn from history is by taking history in the context it was given, with historical interpretations and historical understanding of the forces, definitions, and persons involved. To “evolve” history and to “rewrite” history into something that changes to fit current liberal, secular philosophies is not “learning from history”.

Therefore, with the lessons lost, it is necessary for humanity to repeat the lessons again to relearn them again.

Remember, the “pursuit of happiness” means the “pursuit of wisdom and virtue”.

Here is a article which confirms this, if you read towards the bottom of the article it basically confirms what Newt Gingrich said in his speech in terms of the original meaning of the “pursuit of happiness”.  The article says, among other things, what Thomas Jefferson believed.  The quote is below.

At the end of the letter, Jefferson made a summary of the key points of Epicurean doctrine, including:

Moral.—Happiness the aim of life.
Virtue the foundation of happiness.
Utility the test of virtue.

Click here to read the complete article.