REMOVING ALL DOUBT

 The state of Virginia gave us some of our greatest minds. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Patrick Henry and John Marshall just to name a few. Virginia what happened to you? You have gone from great minds to just plain stupid in 249 years. Tim Kaine has to top the list. The other day he was testifying before Congress that our rights do not come from God. They come from the government and he said that the people who believe that our rights come from God are no better than the Iranians. They also believe that their rights come from God. This way of thinking was very disturbing to him. Well let me just say that I am even more disturbed that a member of Congress is that stupid. Thomas Jefferson is spinning in his grave right now. This is not the first time that I have heard this crazy talk from Democrats. I am not surprised since government is the god that they worship. A few years ago a friend asked me if the Founders would be considered conservative or liberal. The Communists have turned the word liberal into a pejorative. Most conservatives today describe leftists as liberals but the left is regressive and destroys everything that it touches. A liberal on the other hand is a progressive. The terms liberal and progressive are the train that the Communists are riding to destroy this country. They use these terms because they are more pleasing to the ear than the word Communism. The Founders were classical liberals. The idea that all men were equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights was a progressive idea that came from the Enlightenment but we were the first country to incorporate these ideas into a written constitution or a form of government.

 Englishman John Locke, in his Second Treatise of Government, published in 1689 used a theoretical model favored by Enlightenment philosophers called a state of nature. Men were created free by God and placed in a state of nature. This state of nature was chaotic until men decided to establish order by creating a government. Men were created with inalienable rights. These rights were granted by God and could only be taken away by God. Man was also granted alienable rights. These were rights that could be given by the government and taken away by the government. In order to establish order in a state of nature man had to give up a few of his rights in order to secure most of his rights. In order for a government to be legitimate the people had to give their consent. They either gave their direct consent or tacit consent. Direct consent was given at the time that a government was formed. Tacit consent is given by those born after the government was formed. We give that consent when we participate in government. Doing such things as voting, serving on juries, serving in the military, paying taxes and so on. The Founders generation gave their direct consent to our Constitution. Anyone born after 1789 gave their tacit consent.

Jefferson virtually copied Locke's 2nd Treatise of Government word for word when writing the Declaration of Independence. The only difference was that Locke wrote life, liberty and property and Jefferson wrote life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Locke also used the word inalienable and Jefferson wrote unalienable which would be the modern equivalent of a typo. Also, when Locke wrote that all men were created equal Locke wasn't referring to slaves. Jefferson was referring to slaves when he wrote those words.

As I have stated an inalienable right is a right granted by God and can only be taken away by God. Our inalienable rights are listed in our Bill of Rights. Free speech, the right to self defense, the right of trial by jury, the right not to testify against ourselves, the right to council, search warrants and so on are all inalienable rights. Government cannot legally take away these rights. If they do it is referred to as the usurpation of our rights. If our rights are usurped it becomes tyranny. Once tyranny is established the people have not only the right but the duty to alter or abolish our government. The Declaration of Independence says that you should not rebel over light and transient causes. You must establish a case, or justification for rebellion by listing the crimes of the government. Our Declaration of Independence lists the long list of abuses committed by King George Ill against the American colonies. This is how they justified our American Revolution. This is also the value of having a 2nd Amendment. We cannot alter or abolish a tyrannical government otherwise.

Obviously Tim Kaine does not understand the meaning behind our Founding documents. He says that if we believe this way we are no different than Iran. First of all Iran is referring to Allah when they refer to God. Our Founders were not referring to Allah. They were referring to nature's God. Jefferson and Madison successfully passed a religious freedom act in Virginia in 1776. This law disestablished the Anglican church in England which ended the theocracy in Virginia. Jefferson was not against religion in the public square but he was anti theocracy. Islam promotes theocracy. No one on the conservative side has ever promoted theocracy but we are for the involvement of religion in American life. Voluntary school prayer, posting the Ten Commandments in public places and nativity scenes on government property are not an establishment of religion and therefore these things are not a violation of the 1st Amendment. Tim Kaine should adhere to the admonition that "it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt".