That All Men Are Created Equal

I will post a substantive comment on the Mount Vernon Statement, at some point.

At this point, I will point out what I just noticed about it: neither the words "equal" nor "equality" appear in it.

Simply inserting one of those words somewhere probably would not have made much of a difference in the document's explicit message.  However, considering that some of the most significant accusations leveled against conservatism and conservatives are those concerning indifference to or opposition to equality, I wish that the writers had not forgotten to include at least some mention of it.  The MVS twice uses the term "self-evident truths," which, of course, paraphrases the Declaration of Independence's "We hold these truths to be self-evident" phrase.  The MVS also references the inalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  It would have been so easy to include that crucial point appearing between the two, in the Declaration of Independence itself: "that all men are created equal."  I would even go so far as to say that including that phrase would have been the natural and obvious thing to do.

I cannot think of any explanation for its exclusion (aside from the somewhat-realistic possibility that they did simply overlook it) other than that they wanted to avoid criticism.  Many people are confused as to the meaning of the word "equality."  There are even conservatives who claim that equality is hostile to freedom (which is not true, when equality is correctly understood).  It is plausible that the writers of the Mount Vernon Statement omitted the phrase in order to avoid this debate.

Regardless of what their actual reasons might have been however, it is unfortunate that they excluded that phrase, not only because it would have been an opportunity to correct that misunderstanding of the term "equality," but because this movement has struggled with the public perception that it is, in fact, against equality.  Though conservatism, the conservative movement, and most self-described conservatives are not even remotely racist, there are still people, organizations, and traditions in existence that are racist or have racist tendencies.  They are an impediment and a disgrace, and we ought to make it clear to them, in the most clear and emphatic terms we can, that their beliefs are incompatible with ours.  This is what I tried to accomplish in writing the Seventh Point of the Twelve Points; I want to send the seventh point flowing through the veins of the conservative movement as an antidote.  The Seventh Point also refers back to the First Point, where I had discussed equality directly.  It may be self-serving for me to say so, but I think this was the right approach to take.  We are against racism, but the time has come (if there were ever a time when it had not yet come) to state that fact boldly, not reluctantly.  The Twelve Points do so; the competition has not.