Sen. Kaine compares God-given rights to Islamic theocracy in Iran

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   Readmikenowposted 37 hours ago

   Just when you thought the democrats couldn't get any more detached from the reality of being an American Sen. Tim Kaine puts it on display.  The concept of God-Given rights has been around since the start of the United States.  It's stated in the Bill of rights.  He made himself look really ridiculous.  I'm almost numb to being shocked by what those of the left say.
   
   "Tim Kaine needs to report to a remedial civics class as soon as possible.
   
   The Virginia senator and former vice-presidential candidate expressed outrage at a congressional hearing that a Trump nominee said our rights come from God, not government.
   
   Kaine suspected incipient theocracy, warning that the Iranian regime persecutes religious minorities on exactly this basis. “They do it,” he explained, “because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their creator.”
   
   In searching for an example more relevant to the American experience, Kaine might cast his mind back to a fellow Virginian — a tall, sandy-haired, Charlottesville-area gentleman with an interest in architecture, a taste for fine wine and knack for writing. Ring any bells?
   
   Thomas Jefferson had three things inscribed on his tombstone: drafter of the Virginia statute for religious freedom, founder of the University of Virginia and author of the Declaration Independence.
   
   Kaine could lodge all the same complaints he made about the offending nominee, Riley Barnes, against the Declaration of Independence that shockingly maintains that all persons are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” and calls this proposition — with arrogant certitude — a “self-evident” truth.
   
   Luckily for the Sage of Monticello, he didn’t have to get confirmed as ambassador to France by a Senate Foreign Relations Committee including Tim Kaine (as it happened, the US Senate didn’t exist yet).
   
   Kaine might consider that, in taking his oath of office, he actually pledged to defend a constitutional system that is founded on the idea that our rights exist prior to government.
   
   As Jefferson noted later, the sentiments of the Declaration were commonplace in 18th-century America. Jefferson’s nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, stated that “the sacred rights of mankind” are “written, as with a sun beam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”
   
   John Adams, James Wilson and John Dickinson, among other Founding figures, said exactly the same thing.
   
   Whereas Tim Kaine hears someone say our rights come from God and thinks of the writings and thought of, say, the Aytollah Khomeini, the philosophical basis of the idea is found in the work of John Locke, one of the greatest Enlightenment thinkers.
   
   Locke grounded his liberalism in an understanding of mankind as possessing inherent God-given rights and dignity.
   
   The power of this idea is that in a conflict between our rights and laws impinging on them, the laws must give way.
   
   Kaine’s view that rights come from the government implies that the state gets to decide whether or not and to what extent we have rights.
   
   The American project, though, is based on the belief that it is duty of government to respect pre-existing rights, and if a government tramples on them, it has failed and is illegitimate.
   
   The abolitionists used this view to great effect in the 19th century. Even though the government had decided that it was permissible for one class of people to enslave another, the abolitionists believed that this was an offense against God.
   
   Enslaved people had a natural right to liberty that couldn’t be erased.
   
   So, Kaine must have a beef with the likes of William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
   
   https://nypost.com/2025/09/05/opinion/s … en-rights/

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      Sharlee01posted 6 hours agoin reply to this

      I really appreciate the article—reading through your historical context reminded me how often the left seems to overlook the foundations of our country. I agree the concept of God-given rights is not some obscure relic; it’s central to the American experiment. Tim Kaine’s reaction really highlights how detached some politicians have become from the principles the Founders built into our system.
      
      I also think it’s worth emphasizing that this isn’t just historical theory; it’s still incredibly relevant today. From debates on free speech to technology policy and even AI, understanding that rights exist prior to government is crucial. Without that recognition, the government’s role shifts from protector to arbiter of what freedoms people actually get, which is exactly the risk the Founders warned about.
      
      The point about Locke and the abolitionists really hit home. The courage of those like Frederick Douglass and Lincoln came from an unshakable belief in inherent rights. That same principle still underpins why many of us advocate for policies that empower Americans, rather than the state, to lead, innovate, and make choices about their lives and industries.
      
      This was a good read; it’s a strong reminder that the ideas behind our Constitution aren’t abstract, they are living principles that need defenders today just as much as back then.

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   Willowarborposted 5 hours ago

   In the US, the declaration of Independence is not a legal document. It cannot be used in a court of law and it has no bearing on the laws of the nation. Conversely,  The US Constitution very specifically established a secular Republic under enlightenment values, regardless of any kind of language in the declaration of independence. The Constitution is the legally binding document that opens with "We the people.."
   
   And of course the first amendment guarantees "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"  so we are a bona fide secular Nation where the legal authority of government is derived from the people and not from any religion or God(s)

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