OPINION:
Rep. Jody Hice said the most crucial principle to remember about America is that here, in this country, individual rights come from God, not the government, and that deviating from this path leads to cultural degradation, Big Government, socialism and, ultimately, utter governmental and societal collapse.
He’s right, you know.
The Republican from Georgia nailed it.
“The more we kick God out,” Hice said, in an interview with The Washington Times for the podcast “Bold and Blunt,” the more frequently, the more habitually — the more frustratingly — “we see more and more intrusive government at the same time.”
Hello socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Hello socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Goodbye democratic-republic. Goodbye limited government.
Individual rights, core basic rights, personal freedoms and constitutional liberties — “these are not rights that … have [been] given to us from man,” Hice said.
Nope. Rather, they come at birth, as gifts from God. And upon this premise rests all of America’s exceptionalism.
Take away God-given rights and what’s left is government-granted — and where that leads is a government that takes as easily as gives. And oftentimes, far more abruptly and vindictively.
“Liberty must at all hazards be supported,” John Adams wrote in 1765, according to the Bill of Rights Institute. “We have a right to it, derived from our Maker.”
That’s right; we have a right to it. ’Cause God deemed it so.
Liberty and religion; freedom and morality; government and virtue: These are the ties that bind. Break them and government collapses. Separate them and the future of America is in peril.
As Hice said, our country’s been veering off track on these basic truths in recent years — thus the big. bigger and getting even bigger government of recent times. But, he emphasized, hope still prevails. All is not lost. God is still very much alive and active.
A socialist America is hardly a fait accompli.
It just depends on the will of the people to insist on a godly society.
And there’s really no better way to kick off the new year than by reminding of the roots of America’s greatness, and of the path we need to walk to stay this exceptional course.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.