Monday, July 31, 2017

From Where Do Our Rights Come?

What are your rights?  Can you list them?  And, whatever rights you may list, where do these rights come from?  Who gave them to you?  That is, by what authority or power or fundamental truth are you guaranteed these rights?

Our Constitution speaks of “inalienable” rights (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, for example).  How are these rights inalienable and what does “inalienable” even mean?

When the word inalienable is used with reference to human rights, it is to say that such rights have preeminence over all local and/or national governing powers.    That is, it is assumed that certain human rights are not given to people by their governments; rather, such rights are inherent to the people simply because they are human.  They are the universal rights of humanity.

An inalienable right is a right that cannot be derived from other laws or rights or external powers.  Inalienable rights are therefore irreducible givens, essential rights that apply to all persons by virtue of their humanity—the irreducible, non-deductible and essential rights of Being Human.  Thus, all good laws are built on the essential nature of what it means to be human; and so all good laws are built on the foundational inalienable rights of humanity.

In short, we humans do not bestow upon ourselves our own inalienable rights.  If that were true, than these rights could also be taken away from us just as easily, by the whim and will or fancy of any particular government that happens to be in power at any given time or place—which is exactly how some governments around the world (past, present, and future) wish to rule and actually attempt to govern—as if the inalienable rights of humanity are nonexistent and do not apply.

So, it is insufficient to simply say that our inalienable rights stem from our humanity, the fact that human beings are Human Beings.  For, it begs the question—why do or why should human beings have these “inalienable” rights in the first place.

The truth is, if there is no God/Creator, there is no inherent reason to assume that Human Beings are to have or presume to have “inalienable” rights.  Without a God, what is…IS!  And that is that.  And if any single human or group of humans assert or demand that they have inalienable rights, it is nothing more than humans bestowing upon themselves these rights.  And then we are only left with a foundation of drifting sand: what humans give, humans can just as easily take away; all depending upon who is in power in any given age or place.

At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Jesus went to synagogue service in his home town, Nazareth, as was his custom, and stood up to read from Isaiah (see Luke 4:16-21; Isaiah 61:1-2): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.”

Why do the poor matter?  Why be concerned about the blind, the lame, or the meek?  Why worry about the oppressed and those who are held captive?  Why do humans have any value at all?  Why do we humans aspire to live in peace and prosperity where justice and goodness prevail?

Because, God is our Creator and we humans are made in His Image.  Because, Eternity is in our hearts and deep down inside we know there is a greater Truth to the meaning of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness than how we have narrowly defined it.  Because our basic human rights are not bestowed to us by our fellow humans but by the Creator, God’s Self.

Jesus said, “I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep.  All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the gate.  Whoever comes in by me will be saved; he will come in and go out and find pasture.  The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy.  I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.”  John 10:7-10.  In short, only God through Christ will ever guarantee to us, both in principle and in practice, the Inalienable Rights of humanity; for God is its very source.

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