The Source of Rights in the United States

Posted on September 15, 2005

Cross-posted from Part-Time Pundit.
Did you know that the Constitution makes an explicit reference to Jesus Christ as Lord?

From the Signature section:
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth.
It’s common knowledge that the “AD” dating system is a reference to the life of Christ. That’s why some scholars are trying to change “AD” to “ACE” (after common era) to not offend Muslims and the like. More importantly, it is calling it the year of “our Lord”, “our” being the collective pronoun which implies that it is the Lord for all the signers.

It is important to not be unwelcoming to those of other faiths or no faith, but that does not translate into the need to mute all Christian beliefs in the public square or to require that all public officials be atheist (or non-Christian). Our founding was ripe with religious references, and more important, the source of our rights which makes the US distinct is based on religion.

Other nations give rights to its citizens out of its largesse. It can give rights and take rights away at will because they are rights the state can bestow. Not so in the United States. God has granted man certain inalienable rights that the government has no business taking in the first place. The United States can’t take away the free speech of a person because it has no legal or moral power to do so. It doesn’t grant free speech. We already have it. It simply does not get in the way. The acceptance of a higher power than the state is the cornerstone of the entire doctrine of rights in the United States, take it away and there is nothing stopping the government from repealing or amending, say, the First Amendment. The United States can’t give away a right to an education or a right to health care because rights aren’t for the government to give.

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2 Responses to “The Source of Rights in the United States”

John Conklin on September 15th, 2005 10:14 am

Who the hell cares whether Muslims are offended, they had nothing to do with the founding of this country or the framing of the Constitution. If they’re so offended by a nation founded by Christians, why don’t they just leave, and goes for those that were born here as well.
Dethanial on September 15th, 2005 12:27 pm

AMEN BROTHER AMEN AND THEN AMEN AGAIN