“How lonely and unnatural man is and how deep and well-concealed are his confusions.”
John Cheever

Peter wrote: “In making the pursuit of happiness the human quest, the American constitution directs us to a chimera, an emotional state that is fragile as the day passes. It is too easily filled with material aims and becomes the engine that drives Capitalism. How do we know when to stop? How do we measure it? We will be happy when we have enough. We think that we will be happy with the next step up in lifestyle. Does that ever happen?”

This is a strawman. One sets up a concept that is neither said nor intended and then argue against it. Locke used the phrase “life, liberty and property”. By substituting the “pursuit of happiness” for property Jefferson clearly meant the pursuit of happiness is not the same as the acquisition of material goods. With the lugubrious phrase “We are all sinners” Peter resides in the vale of darkness which is Christianity. The fact that the word, happiness, is not found in the New Testament indicates a limitation of the New Testament. Jefferson with his wisdom used the phrase, pursuit of happiness, rather than happiness. This embodies the idea that the joy of the journey exceeds the joy of arrival. In your limited view you reduce the pursuit of happiness which can embody love, service, intellectual achievement and a host of other things to the squalid acquisition of material goods. It is much more than that.

Steele,
>Sin "an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law."
>Those who do not believe in a rule making entity therefore are incapable of sinning in this sense.

That is a non sequiter because the one committing the immoral act is not the only one capable of considering it to be a transgression against divine law.

Now if you'd said, as many Christians believe, that sin is anything which further separates Man and God, then you may have a point. But in the sense you mentioned, we are definitely all sinners.

I see nothing wrong with the pursuit of happiness!

As for dark souls? Some are darker than others, with plenty of the darkest ones, massively overrepresented at the paganised pulpit and in politics?

Straighten out the guy in the mirror, before you start deciding what is good for the rest? Remember, there is not enough darkness in the entire world, to extinguish the light of a single candle!
Alan B.

Dear Peter,

The American constitution supports the freedom to pursue happiness (and so happens do I).
Nowhere does it claim that people have a right to happiness itself, only to pursue it!

In pursuing happiness, each in their own way, some will take a correct path while others will take a false path, some will take a more direct path while others will take more of an indirect path.

Yes, you and I realise that true lasting joy can only be found in God, but since God gifted us the freedom to choose our path, including even the freedom to be a fool, then who is government and who are you to try to deny God's gift?!

---

Dear SteelRedux,

«No we are patently not [sinners]. Those who wish to put themselves under the yoke of a religion sin if they transgress the rules of their God/s.»

Today I have a headache, so 2+2=3.
Today I am so happy, so 2+2=5.

Whether or not we are sinners is open for further discussion, but to claim that where I put myself (in relation to religion or whatever) can change the facts, is like the above claim as if my mood can change the laws of arithmetic.

Dear Yuyutsu,

The pursuit of happiness is not in the American Constitution. It is a phrase in the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution is the basic law of the United States. The Declaration of Independence does not have the force of law.

"The Pursuit of Happiness" by Darrin McMahon is a philosophical history of the concept, and "Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence" by Garry Wills examines the concepts in the Declaration of Independence. I enjoyed both books.