Nick_A -- Rather than making rules, a government protects already established unalienable rights that are natural to universal existence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom doesn’t come from a government making rules but by a system which protects people from government rules and prevents feeling the value of universal rights.
You merely overlooked the key phrase: We hold.
It's a statement of consensus. We, the undersigned, have agreed to base the laws of our new government on these principles*
*north of the Mason-Dixon Line; westward to be determined at a later date, say about 1863
Every constitution and charter - of nations, of international organizations, of sporting clubs, craft guilds and charitable committees - has such a statement of basic principles on which the signatories have agreed. I's all about what people decide will work for them, what rules they agree to abide by. That's what you agree to when you take an oath of citizenship, or office or professional conduct.
Gods and bibles are optional.