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Below is part of an exchange I had with a colleague here locally. The words are mine to him.

R of K

To the question of “Constitution Given” vs “God Given.” The Declaration speaks of unalienable rights; life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. They are “unalienable” only if they come from my Creator. What mankind (via government) giveth, mankind can later snatch away. My life depends on my ability to defend it. (Remember the old maxim, “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.) I must have access to generally available weaponry to do so. The Constitution can be changed (amended). God-given, or natural law, is the same for all time. The Anglo-Saxons were among the first (could have been the first) to put forth this concept of natural law in the 5th century AD. Making these things clear to our listeners or readers is part of the educational process to which I allude. Our fellow citizens need to understand why the 2nd (and all these other topics) is important. All the rest are not worth a hill of beans without it. If putting in “God-given” strikes up a conversation, so much the better.

I will further note that my life can be in jeopardy because of government action, as well as because of the ill-intent of that thug I may encounter while going about my daily life.

In further defense of my position, I quote in full the 2nd:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Those who wrote and enacted the Bill of Rights did not say that the Constitution conferred this right. They wrote quite clearly that government will not “infringe” on a prior established right . . . a right, by inference, of natural law.

Having written all this, let me say that this is exactly the kind of conversation we should have about all these topics, so that we understand what we are trying to shoehorn into the minds of our fellow citizens. Also, what I have written may not be the final word, it is, at this point, only my opinion. But, one which I will vigorously defend until it’s proven wrong.