February 24^th

Cal Thomas today takes issue with Chris Cuomo.  Chris Cuomo said, in an exchange with Alabama Judge Roy Moore, that, “Our rights do not come from God your honor, you know that. They come from man.” This Judge believes that his interpretation of the Bible supersedes the rulings of federal courts and, in particular, the court’s ruling on the legality of Gay marriage.

Cal Thomas is predictably incensed by this; he even goes so far as to head his piece with a quote from John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural Address in which Kennedy said, “The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.” That is probably the only statement from Kennedy with which Cal Thomas could agree. Kennedy’s comments here were surely rhetorical. He knew, better than most men, that while the principle may have Biblical roots, their implementation depends on the willingness of men to fight and die.

Thomas claims that rights must come from God or they would be subject to removal by any change in government.

If those rights were granted by government, the day may come when the public opinion and cultural winds could shift and they could be takes away by the same institution that granted them.

If they were endowed then government has no right to create or remove them.

 

That sounds great but what exactly stops governments from doing exactly as they please with rights? Is he suggesting that God will somehow intervene? How was slavery stopped in this country? Many southerners found Biblical justification for slavery. “Gott mit uns” was a claim Germany made in WW 1.

 

Cal is personally opposed to Gay marriage so, as in most similar controversies, he justifies his position by believing that God is on his side. Exactly how is this different from the claims of ISIS?