Across the world, from the dawn of civilization, humanity has shared self-evident universal rights such as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, given to us by our Creator. These are inherent, unalienable natural rights implicit in the natural order of things, independent of the religious and cultural differences of the human race. The right of a man and woman to marry and bear children to love and nurture is universal, as is the right of all children to be raised by a Mom and a Dad in a natural family setting. Families have the natural right to guide and protect their children, raising them as they see fit, and to form communities with other families for mutual security and prosperity. Communities have the natural right to control the policies they deem necessary to thrive, to defend themselves from outside interference, and to form alliances with other communities as states. My summary of natural rights may be viewed here. https://www.scottlively.net/the-natural-life-movement/
Fundamental to all of these natural rights is the right of self-determination – each person being deemed by virtue of his or her individual creation by God as a person with unique identity, value and purpose. Thus all humans are equal stakeholders in all aspects of human civilization, especially the process of establishing laws affecting them as individuals, families, communities and states. This perspective of human rights is the premise of America and the essence of its genuine exceptionalism that made it a beacon of liberty for 400 years: exceptional in its aspirations if not always its implementations.
In opposition to natural rights, especially the collective right to delegate limited power to governing authorities, is the concept that “might makes right” by which those with the wealth and power to enforce their will on others assume an entitlement to do so. This is the eternal struggle of humanity from Nimrod to the World Economic Forum. The ocean of humanity had ever frothed with waves of tyranny and overthrow until the revolution that birthed the American island, unique in history, blessed with the firm fertile soil of a constitutional republic undergirded by the solid foundation of the Christian Bible (as understood by Christians with a First-Century Hebraic mindset https://www.wnd.com/2022/12/blessings-anglo-zionism/ ).
Yet, thanks to the success of Atheistic Marxism as a competitor to/corruptor of the Bible-based religions that formerly dominated the world, the American vision of a Shining City on a Hill has been suppressed. The “mighty” now rule mankind with a tighter grip than ever before, and what they will for us is a single global government under their exclusive control, with no regard for life and liberty, and a new definition of “happiness” that might seem to some to be just the same old slavery with high tech shackles, but is actually far worse. Their vision is to extinguish the natural order and replace it with a transhumanist “Utopia” populated by a new, “improved” version of human beings which they will, literally, create in laboratories through genetics, robotics and artificial intelligence. What seems like dystopian science fiction is in fact an emerging scientific reality in its early to middle stages, backed by the most powerful forces in the world. https://www.scottlively.net/2022/10/21/luciferian-transhumanism-vs-the-natural-family/
Julio Severo and I were fellow culture warriors for many years in the battle for defending true marriage and the natural family. We met just after he had taken his young family into exile from his native Brazil to escape persecution by the Marxist criminal Lula, who was infuriated that Julio had helped the Evangelical Caucus in the Brazilian legislature to stop a bill that would have criminalized “homophobia” (i.e. disapproval of the homosexual political agenda). In revenge, Lula attempted to jail Julio for refusing to vaccinate his children, forcing him to leave the country. (Now returned to power in an OBiden-backed Marxist coup, Lula has made vaccine tyranny the centerpiece of his administration) https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/02/begins-brazilian-socialist-president-lula-da-silva-forces-poor-families-vaccinate-children-can-receive-financial-aid-regime-risk-receiving-nothing-video/ Julio twice recruited me to go to Brazil to carry on his work with the pro-family network there, but both trips got cancelled for scheduling problems. I in turn recruited him to fill in for me on a pro-family mission trip to Russia, which he did.
In May of 2021, Julio died unexpectedly, leaving a widow and seven small children who were technically “illegals” in their country of exile. When I learned of this, my ministry took on the task of providing for Julio’s family financially, and continuing our shared mission to defend natural rights around the world. (Give to either cause here https://www.scottlively.net/donate/ using the donor option list).
Out of that commitment came the decision to establish the Institute for Natural Rights in his name but with a new approach reflecting the practical realities his own life exemplified.
The situation in America today is looking more and more like that of Julio’s Brazil and frankly like the Roman military dictatorship of the first generation of Christians. Our list of options for push-back is shrinking while the tyrants gain increasing power to crush our resistance, and so, at least as a contingency measure, one strategy for the believers must be to create “sanctuary cities” for the righteous to flee to. A more positive characterization of this is to create the political/cultural equivalent of “nature preserves” in the form of natural communities where natural families can freely exercise their natural rights. And while there is still conservative control of numerous US states, laws should be passed formally protecting the right to establish such communities and codifying the natural rights its residents may establish as their community policies – such as affirmatively normalizing natural family values in their public schools and banning all forms of LGBT propaganda and activism.
There are precedents for this approach (generally speaking) in the Amish communities, Sharia-based Muslim enclaves, and various religious and/or “hippie” communes over the past century. And, frankly, the pursuit of legal protections for Sanctuary City “nature preserves” should involve not just Christians, but a broad coalition of those who embrace natural rights (under Christian leadership as its initiators). Transhumanism is a threat to ALL humanity, and the natural rights we’re trying to preserve truly are universal outside of the tiny minority (globally speaking) of “Secular Humanists” TRAINED to reject them. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, even nature-loving secular environmentalists should be with us on this! And, frankly, a working coalition on those terms (in agreement on at least 80% of our social crises) could conceivably go further and overthrow the entire transhumanist agenda by sheer power of numbers once it had been seasoned in the fight for the natural order against forced artificiality.
For now, we, like the Jerusalem Jews under Nehemiah, need to keep a sword in one hand for fighting those who would enslave, us while wielding a trowel with the other to build life-affirming sanctuaries behind solid defensive walls while there is still time to do so.
Pastor Scott Lively, J.D., Th.D.
www.ScottLively.net