Before July 1776 the American founding fathers clearly understood this principle that is based in the Holy Scriptures. The rights of man come from God and not government! Somehow that timeless truth has gotten misplaced by today’s media elite. Rob Pacienza in the Washington Stand this week wrote, “In a recent interview with MSNBC, Politico national investigative correspondent Heidi Przybyla was asked about the “infusion of Christian nationalism” in Congress following the appointment of an evangelical Christian, Mike Johnson (R-La.), as House Speaker. Responding to the question, Przybyla said, “The thing that unites them as Christian nationalists — not Christians, by the way, because Christian nationalist is very different — is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don’t come from any earthly authority. They don’t come from Congress; they don’t come from the Supreme Court. They come from God.” Wait, this is a surprise to you? Of all our nation’s founding documents, perhaps the most quoted of all is this phrase from the Declaration of Independence!
Pacienza continues, “As the clip went viral for its inanity, Przybyla scrambled to defend herself, claiming that MSNBC cut off her complete response. Yet the segment clip makes Przybyla look even worse, revealing her breathtaking ignorance of American history, basic political theory, and Christian religion… Przybyla’s assertions also betray her rejection of our nation’s founding principles. Think about it. No lesser a document than the Declaration of Independence refers to “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” and says, “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.”
So, when Przybyla arbitrarily declares that belief in the transcendent nature of basic human rights is an extremist threat to the country, she is rejecting not only biblical teaching but also the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the majority of Western tradition. Weekly I am want to speak to some misquote of our founders or mis-representation of our Godly heritage. this week, I must respond!
We believe that our rights here in America come from God. We do not believe our rights come from our government or any government for that matter. We do not believe our rights come from our group. Another word for group is union, another word for union is soviet! The thought that because of my group I have rights is not what we believe as a nation. You must go to another country to believe that. Our founders said that we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Nowhere else in the world treasures life like America. Nowhere else in the world treasures liberty like America.
“Freedom, Thomas Jefferson said, is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice, and the exercise of choice, a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing.” The timeless reality is, the greater the freedom, the more choices you have, less freedom, less choices.” It is government that controls this. And as President Ronald Reagan pointed out, “'We the People' tell the government what to do; it doesn't tell us. 'We the People' are the driver; the government is the car. And we decide where
it should go, and by what route, and how fast.
Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which 'We the People' tell the government what it is allowed to do. 'We the People' are free.” It is unfortunate that Miss Przybyla wasn’t taught this in school. It is unfortunate that millions of young people in America have not been given
One of my favorite cartoon characters is Calvin and Hobbes and in a classic sketch you see Calvin’s poor mom confronting him with the question, “Did you break this dish?” Calvin responds, “I was carrying too much, and I dropped it.” She then told him his problem was a lack of common sense to which he replied… “I’ve got plenty of common sense, I just choose to ignore it!”
This reminds me of Peter’s words to the early church when confronting the trending opinion that God no longer involves himself with mankind… “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget:” I really like the King James wording here… “For this they willingly are ignorant.” You can ignore God and you can ignore where our rights come from. But you can’t ignore God. Yes Politico, it’s important to know that our rights come from God. In fact, so does the very world we live in!