DO RIGHTS DERIVE FROM GOD OR MEN? :

In the Court Of Secular Fanaticism (Rabbi Marc Gellman & Msgr. Thomas Hartman, July 6, 2002, NY Newsday)

We Americans believe our rights come from God -- not from the state.

Jefferson made that point in the Declaration of Independence with "all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." The state acts as the political instrument to affirm and protect those God-given rights. This is the genius of America's notion of rights.

If God is not the source and guarantor of our rights, then our rights would have to come from the state -- and what the state gives, the state can take away.

What God gives, no state can take away.

In fact, the famous phrase in the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident,” was not Jefferson's original. It was "We hold these truths to be sacred", which makes sense leading up to "endowed by their Creator". It is not at all self-evident that we are endowed with rights by our Creator. That is a religious belief. It is the unified belief of all the Abrahamic faiths -- including Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- and, with some theological nuances, also the belief of Hindus and Sikhs and most Buddhists.

There must be some power higher than the state, or there's no way to critique the state. By believing that God is the source of human dignity and human rights, our founders, and those of us who say the Pledge with attention, affirm something mysterious and inspiring.

We affirm that the only reason for a state to exist is to preserve the rights given by God, and when any state violates these sacred rights, it must be changed and the people must have their rights restored and be lifted up.

Imus listeners will recognize the by-line of the God Squad. Good column from two untruculent men. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 7, 2002 6:06 PM