Who is the "the Supreme Judge of the world" referred to in the Declaration of Independence?

The Supreme Judge of the World is the Creator, referenced early in the document:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The same Judge who declares us equal and gives us rights that are immune to the depredations of government is the Supreme Judge of the World who will set all things right in the final judgment, separating those justified by God from the evildoers.

The First Amendment begins with our first right, the freedom of religion, which guarantees that we are not subject to any national church and that our religious expression is protected. Congress may make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.

This cannot be freedom FROM religion because that would mean that government CAN legally prohibit the free exercise of religion to shield other Americans from religious influence. That would be self-contradictory.

The freedom of religion cannot mean the mere right to private prayer and worship. Even China and Iran cannot curtail private prayer and worship. The law must mean the right to follow our religiously informed conscience. For example, it must mean that government cannot compel us to provide abortifacient drugs to employees, which would negate our right follow God's commandment, "Do not murder."

Cheers,

Bruce

The author of the DOI, Thomas Jefferson, was a Deist, not a Christian, and likened the Bible to a dunghill.

You cannot have freedom of religion for yourself if you do not have freedom from someone else's religion.

The First Amendment ensures that you WILL have freedom from someone else's religion in govermental dictates.

What you are really saying is that you want no one to have freedom from YOUR religion.

The men who created and fought for and died for the establishment of something free of anyone else telling them what to do. They won and this is what they did and how they did it. There may never be another one like it so appreciate it while it still exists. An awful lot of people seem to be hating on it including many who are here living within its borders and it may not last much longer this way. Once it is gone it is gone. Perhaps forever.

Why then didn't they say "appealing to God" if they meant the God that you mean?

Also, there is a big difference between the Declaration and the Constitution. If the founders wanted a non-secular society, they would have established that in the Constitution. The only mention of a supreme being in the Constitution is the phrase "endowed by their Creator....." Most of the founders were Deists - they believed in God but were not into established religions.

Jefferson (you know, the actual author of the declaration) was a deist who had no use for Christianity so you know it wasn't the Christian god. Any Biblically literate person can tell you that the Bible does not describe the same deity mentioned in the declaration, because the Bible god certainly does not guarantee life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness.

Judge Dredd

We are.

"Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" -- 1 Corinthians 6:2

And yet they still wrote the First Amendment, which unlike the DoI is the law of the land.

The universal hierarchy...us

It says "supreme judge of the world" and "divine providence".

Egypt's first born, Amalikites, Flood, She bears sent to murder 42 children.

Not one single word in there about a stinking BABY MURDERING BIBLE BOOK GOD.

Show me the word "jesus" or "bible" in the Declaration of Independence...I don't see it.

And you do not own exclusive rights to those phrases, just because you can blab your mouth and say "it refers to my baby murdering bible god" does not mean that is the way it is.