Sullivan quotes a long email that goes after me based on views I do not hold and that I have repeatedly said I do not hold. “Ponnuru believes that without God there could be no human rights. . . . Ponnuru claims that human rights – and moral values more generally – derive their authority from the fact that God has ordained them. (This is the position philosophers call ‘theological voluntarism’ or ‘divine command theory.’)”

The first sentence is true, but not in the sense that the emailer and Sullivan think: I believe that without God there could be no human rights only insofar as I believe that human beings and the universe would not exist without God. Given that we, and the universe, do exist, I believe we can make a perfectly valid argument for the existence of human rights without referring back to God. The second and third sentences are flatly false; I do not agree with “divine command theory” and have never said anything to suggest that I do.

Update: The emailer goes on to argue against the divine command theory. I think the emailer’s arguments are largely correct–in fact, they’re the reason I don’t hold the theory!