I'll give you an example:

I have three children. The first is a natural diplomat, knowing almost instinctively what to say to defuse a tense situation. The second is intellectually brilliant and very diligent. The third has an uncommon ability to make friends, be popular, and is everyone's "best friend."

Each of my children is different and unique. I do not treat them equally as regards their strengths and weaknesses. Nor do they want me to. Each wants to be valued individually for who they are, not according to some static standard.

So since they are so obviously not equal in regards to character, personality, and talent, how is it they are equal. Answer: They are equal in my regard. Each holds a equal share of my heart, and I hopefully have the wisdom to value their individuality over some arbitrary standard.

So back to the original question. Equality according to whom?

The standard used by the founders was equality before God. Equality was defined according to the value of our lives, our liberty, and the right to pursue happiness according to our own personal definition of happiness. These are asserted as divine gifts from "our Creator" that no man can rightfully trespass against.

There are those who are comfortable with no objective standard by which to judge equality. These are anarchist and extreme libertarians.

There are those who accept the founders' premise and value individual liberty as God given, and are comfortable letting God be the judge of that equality. They are ready to accept equality before God as enough even though their observations tell them there are individual variations in talent and riches.

Then there are those who reject the God standard, but their reason demands some objective standard by which to measure equality. It is these people who set up their own standards of equality, or fairness. They tend to value that standard over the naturally occuring variations in individuals. Hence individuality becomes a threat to the standard. These are the dangerous people. They value their standard over individual liberty, and we must always be on guard against them.

As for the arbitrary standards that are set up by those who do not value individual liberty, if you ask me how many such standards exist, I have but one question to ask in return.

How many people reject both God and still desire to maintain equality. Count the people in this group and multiply by 2. This is how many arbitrary standards of equality exist. For each of these people has 2 standards: one by which they kindly judge themselves, and one by which they harshly judge everyone else.

You nailed it on the head.

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