Repeal and Replace…The Declaration of Independence?

Since the passage of ObamaCare in 2009 Americans have, by large percentages, favored a complete repeal and replace of the massive healthcare law. In fact, the rallying cry of the 2010 midterm elections, during which Republicans regained control of the US House of Representatives, was “Repeal and Replace.”

It seems now, however, that the Democrats have adopted their own “Repeal and Replace” strategy, though they don’t have any intentions of repealing President Obama’s massive healthcare power-grab. The adoption of the first truly godless Democratic Party Platform, as the party has now purged any mention of God from the text, has paved the way for the DNC to move to repeal and replace the Declaration of Independence.

Many listeners to my program Common Cents may have thought I was just trying to be cute and funny when I stated that the ideals of the French Revolution are reincarnated in the 21^st Century Democratic Party. I assure you that I was not.

The trajectory of the Democratic Party, as evidenced by their 2012 party platform, is toward a view of rights and liberty that was embraced by the French Revolutionaries in the 18^th century, not by America’s founders and framers.

I recall in college writing a paper in French class (yes, it was entirely en francais) comparing and contrasting the American and French Revolutions. The stark contrast begins with the respective Declarations issued at the beginning of each.

In America, we adopted the Declaration of Independence that explicitly states that God is our rights giver. This acknowledgement is the heart of the Declaration and reads “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The French, by contrast, issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which is effectively the humanist manifesto. Their Declaration claims that man’s rights come from the collective will of the people (i.e. government) as opposed to God. This proved to be the recipe for civil strife and economic stagnation, as any concept of consensus values and absolute truth was purged from the public arena. The result was a breakdown of republican government and the rise of an emperor in Napoleon.

I believe the Democrats should just make it honest and repeal and replace the Declaration of Independence, because they are systematically seeking to make government, not God, the source of our rights and liberties. This belief is the essence of the French Revolution and the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and the opposite of the Declaration of Independence and American Values. Our rights are secured from government overreach only because we, as Americans, have historically believed that our rights are God-given. As such, any government that would seek to alter, amend or abolish our rights is in violation of a higher law, God’s law, and, therefore, forfeits its legitimacy

This election brings us face to face with the most critical of choices: do we reaffirm our commitment to the American conviction that rights are unalienable because they come from our Creator? Or, do we replace this quintessentially American Ideal with the notion that our rights come from government? The choice could not be clearer or any more consequential.

If we desire to live in liberty, and for our children to breathe the exhilarating atmosphere of freedom this country provides, then we must reject the godless platform of a Democratic Party that is setting up government in God’s place.

The liberty bell carries on it a verse of scripture from Leviticus that reads “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” It is time that we, the people of the United States, reaffirm our commitment to our Creator, to the highest ideals of our nation and to the unalienable rights of all.

Regardless of race, national origin, age or sex, we must unite as one America, standing for one nation, under God, which will ensure liberty and justice for all.