Rights Come from God

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the principle that our rights come from God, not from the government. We know that the Founders understood this principle because they signed the Declaration of Independence, which 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. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

            This statement tells us that governments have the responsibility to secure the rights, but the rights are “unalienable. It also tells us that the government has only those powers granted to it by the people. All the rights of Americans are under attack at the present time – freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right to bear arms are in the forefront of being attacked.

            Marty Daniel, president and CEO of Daniel Defense, spoke at the recent 2017 NRA Annual Meetings in Atlanta. AWR Hawkins reported on the speech in an article titled “Daniel Defense: Second Amendment Rights Come From God, Not Government.” After the above quoted statement from the Declaration of Independence, Hawkins wrote:

It is crucial to note two things in this portion of the Declaration: 1. Thomas Jefferson sources our rights in our “Creator,” not in government or in a majority vote of the population. 2. Jefferson sourced government’s power in the people. In other words, governments possess powers, not rights, and the U.S. government only has power because the people lend it a portion of the authority that they possess by birth.

And the authority which the people lend government never communicates permission to infringe on the rights with which the people were endowed. (This is why James Madison used Federalist 46 to stress that “ultimate authority … resides in the people alone.”)  

Enter Marty Daniel of Daniel Defense. Marty told Breitbart News that the Second Amendment must be protected because it is sourced in our Creator. He juxtaposed Second Amendment rights with the gospel and said that he views it as his job to protect both because both flow to us from God.

            Hawkins also quoted a statement by President Donald Trump from an earlier meeting at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum on April 28: “Freedom is not a gift from government, freedom is a gift from God.”

            I am grateful that we now have a President who understands that the government does not have the authority to give or take away our freedoms. Because we have such a President, we may be able to keep our freedoms!