Summary: Patriots at the time of America’s revolution recognized that rights are God-given, not granted by the government.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! – Psalm 33:12 (ESV)
What Is a Patriot?
Patriots at the time of the revolution were American colonists who resisted British governance because it ignored their God-given human rights. They championed independence from the King and Great Britain. This a key theme in the upcoming film The American Miracle: Our Nation Is No Accident in theaters June 9-11. Tickets are on sale now.
The Basis for Human Rights
An idea began to emerge in the Christian West during the late medieval period: even the king is under the law of God, and therefore the king is accountable to God and to a higher moral law, which they called the natural law, for his actions and how he treats his subjects.
Robert George (a key scholar in the upcoming film) said it well; The founders themselves believed that every human being has rights – fundamental rights – simply by virtue of their humanity. Now, where did they get that idea? It was from Genesis chapter one, “that human beings, though fashioned from the mere dust of the earth, material stuff, are nevertheless made in the very image and likeness of God. That’s where our basic dignity comes from. That’s where our rights are anchored. And they wrote those principles into our founding documents, [specifically] into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”
The founders had a strong reliance on God and even one of the least religious in that group, Benjamin Franklin, called for daily prayer during the constitutional convention of 1787 when heated debates had caused an impasse.
In an attempt to maximize liberty, protect individual rights, and ensure that the government would stick to the role of protecting rights rather than granting rights (or taking them away), the founders designed the constitution with checks and balances, and the separation of powers. The federal government would only have the powers spelled out in the constitution, with states having jurisdiction over everything else. And within the federal government one group or one branch would not hold all the power – it would be distributed between the three main branches, with each branch “checking” the power of the others.
The American Miracle: Our Nation Is No Accident is set to be released in 1,000 theaters nationwide on June 9, 10, and 11. It is adapted from Michael Medved’s New York Times bestselling book, The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic. The film features a cast of characters including Pat Boone, Kevin Sorbo, Cameron Arnett, Nicole C. Mullen, and commentary from Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss, along with scholars Robert George, Joseph Ellis, and Akhil Reed Amar. Medved narrates the providential tale of America’s Declaration of Independence from England and its journey to the Constitution.
Conclusion
The American Miracle: Our Nation Is No Accident tells the forgotten story of how we got the liberties we have and enjoy in America, and how we must preserve them. There is a warning in this movie to heed the principles on which our forefathers based the nation. This film is essential for all Americans to watch. Please bring your family and friends.
Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: George Washington signing the constitution in The American Miracle: Our Nation Is No Accident. (© 2025 Heroic Pictures/Patterns of Evidence Foundation)
