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.
That text from the Declaration of Independence is one of my lodestones. Whenever an issue of politics or morality comes up, this is one of the pieces of guiding philosophy I turn to.
Let's start with the "all men are created equal" phrase. First, if you believe that this literally means all males, you are cordially invited to leave now. We're not going to agree on much of anything, and honestly, I'm not sure there's enough common ground to try. All men...not all Americans, not all heterosexuals, not all Christians...all men. Across the board...if you are homo sapiens, welcome to the party. If a policy seeks to divide people by race, creed, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation or barbecue sauce, it deserves a very skeptical review. By the way, if you don't believe in vinegar based barbecue sauce, I think your soul may indeed be lost.
Now "unalienable rights". Start with the word "alien", from the Latin alienus, which means "of or belonging to another" (thank you vocabulary.com). Add the "un" to turn it around, and you have a word meaning a right that does not belong to another; i.e. it can't be taken away. These are your rights. No one is allowed to gainsay that.
We come to "among these". Just in case you want to be nit-picky about the next part, the text is clearly saying that the big three upcoming are only part of the package.
Finally, "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." By life, I don't just mean an existence, but a life worth living. Liberty means we have the freedom to make of ourselves and our life what we wish. The pursuit of Happiness...we are here to pursue a life of joy and fulfillment.
Take this as a whole, and you have a guiding framework for how I approach politics, or at least a portion of that framework. Next up, I'll explain who this "we" is I refer to above.