Policy | Family Talk

Our Rights: From God or Government?

Written by Gary Bauer | March 01, 2024
"… but 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." Heidi Przybyla, MSNBC investigative reporter.

Ms. Przybyla, an MSNBC investigative reporter, was trying to explain to her colleagues and the viewing audience why "Christian nationalists " are scary and dangerous. She said they believe all human beings get their rights from God, not "from any earthly authority."

Well, Ms. Przybyla will be surprised to learn that what she describes as a radical view is in fact the most important founding principle of the American Republic. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote our Declaration of Independence, said it this way, "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." Read it again! Our founders did not say "endowed by their 'government.'" They said, "endowed by their Creator"—the God of the Bible.

This idea that no government can legitimately take away from human beings, who are made in God's image, the rights He gave us, is what made the American Revolution an earth-shattering event that has threatened tyrants everywhere.

This MSNBC reporter is historically ignorant. She just labeled America's founders and Abraham Lincoln, as well as Martin Luther King and virtually every giant of our history, a dangerous radical. Sadly, Ms. Przybyla is a product of years of American education that neglects to teach real American history.

Ms. Przybyla also asserted that she doesn't think most Christians believe liberty comes from God. She insists only a small radical group does, and they must be resisted. I hope she is wrong about that. If Christians, out of fear or confusion, abandon the idea that our liberties are God-given, but instead come from government, we will be on the way to losing those liberties.

JDFI urges parents and grandparents to help their children learn, understand, and memorize these cherished words, "We hold these truths…"