God-Given Rights and God-Given Responsibilities
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
A Pennsylvania state representative has called upon his colleagues to impeach the governor, saying, “Gov. Wolf’s orders in response to the COVID-19 outbreak have violated a number of our God-given rights affirmed in the United States Constitution.”
A county sheriff in Washington state said he would refuse to enforce that state’s governor’s social distancing orders, because “[n]o crisis should ever violate a citizen’s liberty or God-given rights under our U.S. Constitution or Washington State Constitution.”
Six Michigan sheriffs took a similar position, proclaiming that “Each of us took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, and to ensure that your God-given rights are not violated.”
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This lawmaker, these law enforcement officers, and many Americans find within the US Constitution rights given us by God, endowing our government’s foundational document with profound religious significance.
Which is somewhat odd, since the Constitution in fact never mentions God. [Note 1] In turn, the Bible is conspicuously silent when it comes to individual rights.
When most Americans think of the rights guaranteed to them, they look to the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. These include, among others, the rights of free speech, a free press, and the free exercise of religion, and the rights to bear arms, to peaceably assemble, and to a jury trial.
Yet, none of those rights are to be found anywhere in Jewish or Christian scripture. Nowhere in the Bible will you find a right to speak your mind, to carry a weapon, or to gather in groups. [Note 2] Free exercise of religion? Worshipers of other religions were seldom tolerated in the stories of either the Torah or the New Testament.
Prior to the Constitution’s adoption, the inalienable rights we have come to treasure were found not in religious texts but in the common law of England, based on legal traditions going back little more than five hundred years. The concept of a set of natural rights to which all people are entitled is more attributable to the seventeenth century English philosopher John Locke than scripture.
In a coincidental parallel with the Bill of Rights, the Bible also has a list of ten important principles. The Ten Commandments, however, do not identify rights. Instead, they are affirmative or negative statements about belief or behavior – in other words, they create obligations. You will believe in only one God; you will keep the Sabbath; you will honor your father and your mother; you will not bear false witness, steal or kill; you will not covet.
In the Book of Exodus, shortly after the first appearance of the Ten Commandments, is a list of further obligations laid upon the people of Israel by God. You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan. You shall not join hands with the guilty to act as a malicious witness. If you see your enemy’s ox wandering, you must take it back to him. Do not take bribes.
The Bible is full of commandments. In Jewish tradition, 613 of them. These impose obligations, to God, but even more importantly, to other people. To our family, our neighbor, our enemy, and even to the stranger among us.
But rights? Not so much.
Who claims rights in the Bible? Korah, son of Izhar, did. He rebelled against the obligations imposed by God, and against Moses and Aaron. It did not go well for Korah or his followers. They were swallowed up by the earth.
The Israelites had a hard time with all of the new obligations that came along with freedom from slavery, and tried worshiping a golden calf whose expectations were less than God’s. As a consequence, they wandered for 40 years in the desert until a generation passed before they could finally arrive in the Promised Land.
No, the Bible is much more concerned about our responsibilities than our rights.
Those who insist upon their God-given rights, but choose to ignore the responsibilities actually found in scripture, seem to be missing the point.
Perhaps the founders made a mistake when they adopted just the Bill of Rights. They should have included a Bill of Responsibilities as well.
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Note 1: Yes, the Declaration of Independence declares that all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. The Declaration, however, is a list of grievances against King George III and a justification for revolution. It provides no legal rights under American law; one cannot bring a lawsuit under the Declaration to enforce rights to life, liberty or happiness.
Note 2: One can certainly argue that there is a right to self-defense in the Bible; however, this is not set forth as an affirmative statement, but in the recognition that actions taken in self-defense are a valid excuse for what would otherwise be punishable (such as murder). There is no right to possess a weapon in the Bible.