{"id":28841,"date":"2025-09-05T15:07:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=28841"},"modified":"2025-09-05T15:07:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:07:47","slug":"ted-cruz-pushes-back-against-tim-kaine-over-god-given-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/09\/ted-cruz-pushes-back-against-tim-kaine-over-god-given-rights","title":{"rendered":"Ted Cruz Pushes Back Against Tim Kaine Over ‘God-given’ Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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@tedcruz \/ X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Senator Ted Cruz (R, TX) had strong words for Senator Tim Kaine (D, VA) after he described the idea of God-given rights as \u201cvery, very troubling.\u201d Kaine made the comment while speaking during a nominations hearing of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kaine, who identifies as Catholic, warned that the concept of rights from God were from theocratic dictatorships like Iran. \u201cThe notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government but come from the Creator \u2014 that’s what the Iranian government believes. It’s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Sharia law and targets Sunnis, Bah\u00e1’\u00eds, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities,\u201d he said<\/a>. “And they do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their Creator. So, the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling. I think the motto over the Supreme Court is ‘equal justice under law,’ \u2014 the oath that you and I take pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, not arbitrarily defined natural rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz spoke up after Kaine had left the room, rebuking his remarks. \u201cI just walked into the hearing as he was saying that, and I almost fell out of my chair, because that ‘radical and dangerous notion’ \u2014 in his words \u2014 is literally the founding principle upon which the United States of America was created,\u201d he said. He then went on to quote the Declaration of Independence, citing, \u201cWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator’ \u2014 not by government, not by the Democratic National Committee, but by God-\u2018with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Writing on his Facebook<\/a>, Cruz had some advice for Tim Kaine and the Democrat Party. \u201cI suggest the Dems go back and read the words of our Founding Fathers,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Conservatives were quick to slam Kaine on social media as well. \u201cA U.S. Senator @timkaine said our natural rights come from laws and government, not from our creator,\u201d wrote Lily Tang Williams<\/a>, Republican candidate for Congress in New Hampshire. \u201cHe just rejected our founding principles. This is what communists want me to believe in China. How did Americans vote these politicians into congress?\u201d \u201cThis is a remarkable moment from Tim Kaine,\u201d wrote the Daily Wire\u2019s <\/em>Matt Walsh<\/a>. \u201cHe just announced that the core foundational principle of our country, affirmed in the Declaration of Independence, is “extremely troubling” and “theocratic.” He should be immediately removed from office. Anyone who rejects our nation’s foundational principles is obviously not fit to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senator Ted Cruz (R, TX) had strong words for Senator Tim Kaine (D, VA) after he described the idea of God-given rights as \u201cvery, very troubling.\u201d Kaine made the comment while speaking during a nominations hearing of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kaine, who identifies as Catholic, warned that the concept of rights from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":28844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTed Cruz Pushes Back Against Tim Kaine Over 'God-given' Rights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ted Cruz rebukes Sen. 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