Opinion

Chuck Todd Just Embarrassed Himself By Showing His Ignorance of History and the Constitution

MSNBC’s Chuck Todd does not have to be a genius or have a Ph.D. in history to know that our founders believed that our rights do not come from the State or any other human institution, and that includes the Supreme Court. They would have been horrified to think that after all the work they did to establish this nation that someone who has the public’s ear doesn’t know this fundamental fact.

Even though some of the founders were not Christians, almost all of them believed in God and that our rights were a gift from Him, not an endowment from any government. They made this clear in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…

Rights are a gift from God and governments are designed to secure these God-given rights. Our nation’s foundational document couldn’t be clearer. And for good measure, the Declaration goes on to mention the following:

  • “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”
  • “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions.”
  • “for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

There is no excuse for someone like Chuck Todd not to know this history. Here’s a way for him to catch up:

Todd has described Judge Roy Moore, who just won the Alabama Republican Primary for the U.S. Senate, as an extremist. Why is that? “First off,” Todd said, “he doesn’t appear to believe in the Constitution as it’s written.” Todd was reacting to the following comment from Judge Moore:

“Our rights don’t come from the government, they don’t come from the Bill of Rights, they come from almighty God.”

If this is not correct, then from whom or what does Chuck Todd think our rights come from? The Declaration of Independence says they come from God. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to secure rights already given by God, not to create rights. If a government can create rights; it can take them away.

Who said the following?

Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.

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A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.

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Was not Martin Luther an extremist: “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.”

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There was a time when the church was very powerful — in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.” But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were “a colony of heaven,” called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent–and often even vocal–sanction of things as they are.

The above remarks were written by Martin Luther King, Jr. and are found in his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail (April 16, 1963). King made his case for equality based on the fact that certain rights are fundamental because they are God-given and no government can suppress them. Before there ever was a civil government, these rights existed. There were those who argued that King’s views were dangerous. The same is being said of Judge Moore. I know, liberals will say that Judge Moore is no Martin Luther King. He doesn’t have to be. If King’s words can only be true for one man at a single moment in time, then his efforts were in vain.

Put similar words in the mouth of Judge Moore, and he becomes an extremist. That’s because today’s Progressives are actually Regressives. There is no basis for rights except the State, the very thing Rev. King protested against.

An “unalienable” or “inalienable” right is a right that cannot be denied for the simple fact that they come from God. To oppose these rights is to oppose God.

For those who might argue that the Constitution doesn’t say anything about the origin of our rights, here’s another history lesson. The Constitution ends with the following that appears just above where George Washington signed his name:

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names…

I want you to notice two items:

First, the phrase “in the Year of our Lord.” This is a reference to Jesus Christ. Note the date: “one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven.” For those who don’t know, that date means 1787 from the birth of Jesus Christ. The abbreviation AD means Anno Domini: “in the year of our Lord.”

Second, “the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth” refers to twelve years since the Declaration of Independence was written, published, and signed.

I know Judge Moore, and I guarantee you that he knows more about the Constitution and the founding of America than Chuck Todd does.

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