When the Founders declared that basic human rights were given to us by the Creator, were they writing the seeds of religious tyranny into our founding documents?
That seems to be what some atheists believe as they continue their mostly losing battle to remove any reference to God from our government buildings and documents. In their most recent court loss, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, had claimed that the words “In God we Trust” on our currency was denying atheist coin collectors their right to collect coins and that they were “forced to proselytize – by an Act of Congress – for a deity they don’t believe in whenever they handle money.”
Silly, isn’t it?
And maybe you are wondering, with the tragedy in Syria, the Benghazi cover-up and the collapse of Obamacare, why I would dedicate a column to such an issue. Let me explain.
Historians with a leftist lean, will tell us that the Founders were irreligious. On the right, they use similar out of context evidence to prove they were all strong Christians. The truth, however, is that the Founders had a broad range of religious beliefs, and despite these differences, when they put their pens to paper, they clearly agreed on two points: First, that basic rights were ordained by a power greater than man, and second, that religion, if empowered by government, becomes tyrannical.
The Declaration of Independence makes the first point:
“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.”
After establishing that basic human rights do not originate with man, the Founders then went on to write a Constitution specifically designed to protect those basic principles. With a Republican form of government, separation of powers, and by listing rights not to be denied, they tried to ensure the foibles of men did not trample the God given rights of the people.
Foremost in protecting these rights was the need to ensure that no particular religion ever became empowered by government. So the first line of the First Amendment reads, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
Apparently the Founders, who wrote both documents, saw no contradiction between these two ideas because they defined religion (like most of us today) as an organized way of worshipping a supreme being. There was no question there was a law higher than man’s – it was self-evident. And while they chose to refer to this higher power as “their creator,” other terms might have worked just as well. Today, some call the source of that power God, others call it natural law. Star Wars fans might call it “the force.”
Regardless, in the recent court decision mentioned here, U.S. District Judge Harold Baer, wrote, “…the Supreme Court has repeatedly assumed the motto’s [In God we Trust] secular purpose and effect.” In other words, it is not a religious statement but a reference to the source of our most basic rights. The judge also, “found no constitutional violation in the motto’s inclusion on currency,” or that atheists suffered any sort of “substantial burden” due to its inclusion.
So why is this so important – because today we fight an enemy that would impose their religion by force on the world. And in our own society we are facing off against those that would be rulers rather than servants of the people.
But combined together, the principles that separate state power from the church and place human rights above the whims of men are the very principles that will keep us safe from the tyrannical dictates of any person or group that would dominate the people for their own ends.
Religion without the sanction of government cannot rule. Tyrants can claim no legitimate power because human rights are not theirs to either give or take away. And, according to our Declaration of Independence, “…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Those that would take the word “God” off our monuments and currency in the name of religious freedom either don’t understand its importance, or, they are wicked men intent on supplanting the Creator’s gifts with their own rule.
If they are simply being foolish, we need to teach them that our founding under God is essential to our freedom. If they are seeking power unto themselves, we need to stop them. Either way, they should thank the stars (since they don’t believe in God) that they are lucky enough to live in a country where their foolishness is allowed.
Try being an atheist in Iran.
First published in the News Gazette 9/18/2013
The Founders Tavern 