Unknown Russian Artist, Tula:
Flintlock Fowling Piece Given by the Empress Catherine II of Russia
to the French Ambassador (1745 and 1763)

"So much for God's matchmaking skills, and others."

Recently, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine sparked controversy when he stated the seemingly uncontroversial opinion that rights come from laws. Conservatives, spear-headed by the ever-pious Texas Senator Ted Cruise, publicly disagreed, insisting that none other than Thomas Jefferson himself declared that people are bestowed by their creator certain inalienable rights, namely: the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, accusing Senator Kaine of disclosing the "Democrat" agenda to ascribe God-Given rights to laws and thereby enabling them to be rescinded upon a whim. House Speaker Mike Johnson chimed in, insisting that while this was the well-known "Democrat" agenda, they weren't supposed to say it out loud. Here's The Hill's report on these exchanges.

This might seem to amount to little more than another vacuous gotcha game exchange between partisans, but it got me thinking about what constitutes a God-Given. God has been popularly described as the bestower behind everything from talents to rights, though, unlike the above-pictured fowling piece, no maker's mark could have been affixed to even the least of these. They have been various and seem dependent upon culture. What seems inalienable for some does not quite rise to breach that barrier for others. In this culture, many insist that the right to own and bear arms—gun ownership—came directly from God, as if a mere extension of the pursuit of happiness clause or the life and liberty insistences. Yet, gun ownership has been shown to stand in opposition to the preservation of life, liberty, as well as the pursuit of happiness. One person's pursuit of their own happiness can produce incalculable sadness for others, directly violating another's constitutionally guaranteed right: the protection from another's rights infringing upon one's own.

Kaine's position seems perfectly defensible if you're considering laws. There are no laws guaranteeing the right to pursue happiness, as it exists more as an underlying principle. I cannot sue you for violating that particular right, even though Jefferson insisted our creator had bestowed it. Kaine correctly points out that Sharia Law allows the prosecution of such offenses against God, but that our system insists upon enforcing only laws. Principles might influence the passage of laws, but nobody seriously believes in prosecuting anyone based upon their violations of principles not substantiated in law. Well, nobody except the odd Nazi and our current incumbent.

The conservatives speak disparagingly about those of us who believe that laws bestow our rights. The Second Amendment was no more a given from God than were the first or third. To say otherwise seems absurd. None of those amendments mean anything without some interpretation that hones their meaning, and those meanings change over time. Once upon a time, not that long ago, the so-called God-Given Right to bear arms was severely limited by practical considerations. Since changes in human interpretation withdrew those practicalities, that same amendment contributes to the most significant cause of childhood deaths of any nation in the world. If the right was God-Given, were the consequences, too?

Yesterday, a so-called conservative commentator was killed when someone exercising their God-Given right very nearly blew his brains out. That commentator had held the opinion that a few gun deaths were a fair price to pay for the fundamental freedom gun ownership represents. The fundamental difficulty with any God-Given anything seems to come when considering who holds the right or responsibility to rescind that right when it proves unworkable in practice. The defense, of course, has been that guns don't actually kill people, that they're just a tool. People kill people with a variety of implements, including firearms. Why take out our ire on the God-Given one? This question seems especially stupid and cruel, but stupidity and cruelty are not unknown whenever people start ascribing to God something only man could ever bestow. In the protestant wedding ceremony, the preacher ends the service by declaring, "What God has joined, let no man put asunder." Almost 50% of all marriages in this country end in divorce, so much for God's matchmaking skills, and others.
©2025 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #FollowingChapters, #PureSchmaltz