Breaking news: Americans do not have rights that were granted to us by a god. Not the god of Christianity, nor the god of Judaism, nor the god of Islam, nor the god of Hinduism, nor the god of Zoroastrianism nor the god of any other religion practiced around the globe. Rights that were actually granted to Americans were written by men and codified in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Oh, sure, the Declaration of Independence opens with a nice little preamble that talks about “unalienable rights” endowed by our creator, but the creator it references is not defined, and furthermore, the Declaration of Independence is not – and never was – a set of laws. It is a lengthy collection of grievances written by New World colonists against the King of England, alleging a series of crimes and used to explain why we were declaring our independence from the Crown. (The clue to the purpose of the Declaration of Independence is in its title. Duh.)
The Constitution, on the other hand, opens with its own preamble that does not delegate rights written by a holy deity. It says, simply: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
There is no mention of god, Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, Buddha, any church or any other religious institution.
Andrew L. Seidel, writing for Religion News Service, points out that the Constitution – which actually DOES grant rights to our citizens – makes no direct correlation between religion and the law. “The Constitution, which the Bill of Rights amends, is not really indifferent; it’s simply godless,” Seidel wrote. “The Constitution’s three mentions of religion are exclusionary: (1) banning religious tests for public office, (2) prohibiting the government from aligning with one religion over another and religion over non-religion, and (3) guaranteeing the freedom of thought and belief. In other words, the Constitution keeps God out of the business of government and government out of the business of worshipping God.”
(I added the numbers for emphasis.)
So every time I hear somebody talk about god-given rights, I want to (1) scream, (2) track him or her down and (3) shove a copy of the Constitution in their, uh, face, because these rights they cling to so desperately simply do not exist. It’s just another lie told by the religious far right, which seems to excel at the practice of spreading untruth.
I got an email today from Ron DeSantis, the far right extremist governor of Florida. I don’t know how he got my email address, but I suspect I’ve been targeted because I’m a registered Independent. Somebody sold my email address and it wound up on the Potential Nutbag And Not a Democrat Mailing List. Lots of Republicans including Dr. Ben Carson and Gym Jordan send us emails, mostly asking for money and our pledge of unwavering support for somebody named Trump.
Anyhow, in his email, DeSantis complains about the “radical vigilante woke mob” that is destroying our American way of life. As a practicing member of said Woke-a-teers, I can tell you that isn’t true, but I digress. Apparently, according to DeSantis, we are guilty of “stifling dissent, public shaming, rampant violence, and a perverted version of history.” We are tearing down statues and buildings and that’s not all. We’re also responsible for tearing down the American spirit itself. We go after the family unit, parental rights, traditional moral values, the church, and fact-based education.
There’s a lot more in the email, but the punch line is this: “The time for listening and watching from the sidelines is over.” It’s now time for me to get myself out of the Barcalounger and “fight for the rights I know were given to man by God Himself.”
And by the way, while I’m at it, a small contribution of $100, $200 or more would be greatly appreciated as DeSantis attempts to get himself elected to one office or another. (Just between me and you, I promise to send Ron a check the day after hell freezes over. By then, the state of Florida should be completely under water from global climate change and my home in West Virginia could well become beachfront property.
When that happens, $200 will be a small price to pay for an ocean view.
