Senator Tim Kaine recently suggested that America’s founding belief in God-given rights is “extremely troubling” because it resembles the ideology of Iran’s totalitarian theocratic regime. That statement is not just historically wrong — it’s dangerously misleading. It confuses the very principle that makes America free with the very system that crushes freedom abroad.
What the Declaration Says
The Declaration of Independence proclaims that our rights are “endowed by our Creator,” meaning they exist before and beyond government. This idea was revolutionary in 1776. Kings and parliaments claimed to grant rights at their discretion; Jefferson and Madison — Virginians like Kaine — declared that rights come from God and therefore cannot be revoked by rulers. That’s the foundation of American liberty.
Contrast this with Iran. Its constitution enshrines velayat-e faqih, the doctrine that a cleric holds divine authority to rule until the hidden Imam returns. In practice, it means unelected religious leaders claim God’s mandate to dominate their people. Instead of protecting individual freedom, Iran’s regime enforces repression — censorship, imprisonment, torture, even executions for dissent or alleged moral failings. That’s the opposite of liberty.
To equate these two systems is to confuse a shield against tyranny with a sword for it.
Rights From God vs. Rights From Government
The difference is simple but profound. If rights come from government, then government can alter or abolish them whenever it chooses. Rights become privileges — conditional, temporary, and revocable. If rights come from God, they are inalienable: government exists only to secure them, not to invent or erase them.
That’s why Jefferson wrote of “unalienable Rights.” Madison echoed that government was to be “a protector, not a giver, of liberty.” This principle distinguishes the American republic from both monarchies and theocracies.
Kaine’s view flips the logic. By dismissing God-given rights as “troubling,” he risks endorsing the very mindset our founders rejected — that government is the source of human freedom. That is not democracy; it is a dangerous form of statism.
The Historical Contrast
America’s founders believed divine authority protects individuals from government overreach. Iran’s rulers claim divine authority to exercise absolute control through government power. One system limits rulers; the other empowers them. To equate the two is not simply an error — it undermines the moral clarity that separates liberty from tyranny.
Consider the regimes of the 20th century — Nazi Germany, Stalin’s USSR, Mao’s China. They rejected God, and in turn, rejected God-given rights. The result was catastrophic: rights became negotiable, subject to the whims of dictators. Millions suffered and died because governments saw themselves as the ultimate authority.
America charted a different course: “under God,” as Lincoln reminded us at Gettysburg, with a government accountable to its people because rights do not come from rulers.
Why This Matters Today
Senator Kaine’s comments are more than a poor analogy. They reflect a profound misunderstanding of America’s founding principles. If we abandon the idea of God-given rights, we hand government the very “godlike power” it was designed to resist. We blur the line between liberty and oppression.
This is not an abstract debate. In recent years, we have seen growing attempts to expand government control — over speech, education, business, even matters of conscience. At the same time, Iran continues to use its theology to justify brutality against its citizens. For an American senator to equate our founding creed with that dictatorship is reckless and insulting — not only to our history, but to those who suffer under real theocracy.
A Virginian Irony
The irony is sharp. Kaine represents Virginia, the birthplace of Jefferson and Madison. These men understood that without God as the source of rights, freedom is fragile. Jefferson wrote that liberty is a gift of the Creator, not of rulers. Madison designed a Constitution that limited power because he knew fallen human nature could not be trusted with unchecked authority. Both understood that grounding rights in God, not government, was essential to preserving freedom.
For a Virginian senator to dismiss this principle is not only historically tone-deaf — it betrays his own state’s greatest legacy.
If Tim Kaine can’t tell the obvious difference between a government that says ‘God gave you rights and it is government’s obligation to protect those rights’ and a very different government that says ‘God gave me power to rule over you, oppress you, and kill you,’ then Kaine is not defending our constitutional republic — he’s undermining it and working to destroy it.
Even an elementary school student could see the difference that Senator Kaine cannot see. So Kaine is either a low IQ moron, or simply a dishonest politician who hates America and our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and our Founding Fathers and our tradition of freedom and opportunity. Either way, Virginians should be ashamed to be represented by him.
Setting the Record Straight
Let us be clear. The Declaration of Independence is the gold standard of human freedom. It affirms that rights exist prior to government and limit its power. Iran’s constitution is the antithesis, investing divine authority in rulers who crush dissent. One system elevates individuals as image-bearers of God; the other reduces them to subjects of the state.
Kaine’s conflation is indefensible. America’s founding creed is not dangerous — it is the safeguard against danger. It does not resemble theocracy — it is the cure for it.
Conclusion
Senator Kaine’s comments are not just a slip of the tongue. They reflect a worldview that undermines the very foundation of American liberty. To say that God-given rights are “troubling” is to say that Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln — and indeed, the entire American experiment — got it wrong.
They did not. They got it right. Our rights are not government-issued licenses. They are inalienable truths, grounded in God’s design, beyond the reach of any legislature or dictator. That is why America endures. And that is why we must never confuse liberty with tyranny, or the Declaration of Independence with theocratic oppression.
George Landrith is the President of the Frontiers of Freedom Institute and the author of“Let Freedom Ring… Again: Can Self-Evident Truths Save America from Further Decline?”
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