Overview

• In a Sept. 9 Fox News op-ed, Sen. Tim Kaine says he accepts the Declaration’s language on being endowed with inalienable rights but argues those rights need legal guarantees to have force.
• He cites slavery to contend that the natural right to liberty meant little until the Civil War and the 13th Amendment abolished the institution.
• Kaine notes that trial by jury, bearing arms, a free press, protection from cruel punishments, due process, assembly, petition, and voting are secured in the Constitution and laws rather than scripture.
• He warns that claiming rights flow solely from God has enabled rulers to justify ignoring laws, pointing to historical patterns and ongoing abuses in parts of the world.
• The dispute follows his Sept. 3 hearing remarks and has drawn criticism from Bishop Robert Barron and Sen. Ted Cruz, with a Sept. 10 American Greatness column pressing church leaders to oppose Kaine’s stance.