1776. A world for thousands of years ruled by kings, emperors, and nobility—the “elite.” Peasants and slaves were nonentities. A world where those “above” you didn’t just have authority over you, they were BETTER than you. The king, the nobility, got their rights from God—"divine right monarchy.” “I'm the king because God made me king. Therefore, I am superior to you, and you must obey me.” That is the world that Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison were born into. That is the world that they knew and that is the world they rebelled against.
Our Founders were overturning thousands of years of human history when they said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” After 250 years of this being what American civics is (supposed to be) about, countless Americans today have absolutely no idea, no conception of what our Founders faced, of what they really did, of what they gave us. Too many American know nothing of what these great men meant when they said “all men are created equal,” and the world they were protesting against. This was totally revolutionary in 1776. They were turning the world upside down.
“All men are created equal.” Nobody is born with a right to rule anybody else. No, we're not economically equal. No, we're not equal in our talents, in our intelligence, in our abilities, in our gifts. But we are all equal in the fact that we have been endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable (natural) rights. We have these from the time of our conception, from the time life begins, because life is a gift from God. Rights are given to us by our Creator. They are not given to us by our government. Government does not give us the right to life. Government does not give us the right to liberty. Government does not give us the right to property. Government does not give us the right to pursue happiness. God gives us those rights. They descend from God and God is higher than the government. And the government cannot take away from us what God has granted us.
That is what 1776 means. And that was the true American Revolution.
But, in the last 200 years, we have been plagued with Marxism and a so-called “scientific” philosophy called Darwinism that has supposedly “proven” there is no God. That everything got here naturally, that materialism is the totality of existence. There is no God, there is no spirituality, there is no life after this one. Naturalism. This, folks, is the underlying philosophy of modern Leftism. They do NOT want you to know that, but it is. It’s the philosophy of socialism, the philosophy of communism, the philosophy of the Chinese Communist Party, and it is the philosophy of the Democratic Party of America. The Left believes that Darwin proved that “God is unnecessary” (Julian Huxley). Everything evolved without God. That is the foundation of modern Leftism.
Well, if that is true, if there is no God, then quite obviously our Founding Fathers were wrong. If there is no God, then He couldn't have given us our natural rights, could He? So where do our rights come from? They can only come from the highest authority that now exists in the world, and that authority is government. Leftism takes us back, in principle, to kings, nobles, and slaves—that all our rights come from the government. This transports us to pre-1776. If the king gave you your rights, then he can take them away. And you must obey him. The noble is your “Lord,” not Jesus. And you must obey your lord. Pre-1776. The rights of the people come from the government.
But Jefferson—AMERICA!—said “NO!” The rights of the people do NOT come from despots, they come from God! Modern-day Leftism says, “No, there is no God to bestow your rights, your rights come from the government. And you will obey us! Just like you obeyed the king!” Friends, we are fighting the American Revolution all over again.
What the Left is doing today is trying to overturn the American Revolution. I lived 10 years in China and, believe me, they have an atheistic system where people's rights come only from the government. Where else COULD they come from? That is not what the Declaration of Independence says. That is not what America was founded upon. But that is what the Left—Joe Biden, the Democratic Party—is trying to give us today. They are attempting to destroy America as it was founded. It is critical that all Americans understand that modern Leftism, the Democratic Party, will take us back to pre-1776 and install again a system where our rights come from the government, and therefore we must obey our rulers unconditionally. This obliterates the very principles which have given every American freedom and protection. But that’s what the Left craves. They want to be king. They lust to rule. They demand to be obeyed. They insist on telling you what you can think and do, and woe be unto you if you don’t. That is what the Left is trying to do, and if you don’t believe it, go live in China.
There is a difference between ALLOWING people to do something, and their having a RIGHT to do it. The former is modern Leftism. The latter is America—as it was founded. The American Left is determined to obliterate.
That's what we're trying to oppose. That's what we ARE opposing, and we will continue opposing it because it's wrong, and takes away our God-given rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” The Left will give you death before they give you your God-given right to life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness. Ask any unborn baby—or Uyghur in China.
Listen to my podcasts on “Wisdom From Our Founders' ' (paid subscribers only, sorry) on my substack mklewis929.substack.com. You want to hear that. Many other articles/podcasts as well (free). Read my western novels, Whitewater , River Bend, Return to River Bend, and Allie’s Dilemma all available on Amazon. Follow me on Twitter: @thailandmkl.
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