WHERE DO RIGHTS COME FROM?

by Ben 4:54 PM 0 COMMENTS

Rights are created by government, right? Well that is what most lawmakers would like you to think. Many in government would like to show how they have given their constituents extra rights, that these rights have deserved for a long time and only the archaic beliefs of the conservatives that have withheld these rights.Is that really how our rights work? They are simply given or taken away by the whims of the government. Frederick Bastiat correctly understood this and said:

"Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place"

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Life, Liberty, and property (which are really just an extension of one's personal efforts or gains) have always existed even before lawmakers have existed. These rights were bestowed upon us by our Creator. The founding fathers understood this and even mention it in an ancient document called the Constitution. Understanding that our rights come from our Creator is important in keeping them. Whenever men undertake to offer up new rights, usually rights of others are typically being violated. Such is the case for many of the government programs that are in place today. Making health care or education a right to citizens only violates the rights of property of someone else. Do you have the right to another person’s property? Do you have the right to another persons services?

Can you imagine if you were a politician or someone with authority over others and you "created" rights for people, you one day meet with your Creator and he asks you "Why did you destroy the rights that I gave to those who I created?" He mentions that he gave life, liberty, and man’s own ability to obtain property. Moreover, you, contrary to what He had created, deliberately took from one person, which God had given to that person, to give to another. Wouldn't you then be attempting to usurp Gods authority?

If our rights come from God we can then understand what laws are just and what laws are not just. Just laws would be laws protecting the rights given to us by our Creator. Unjust laws would violate our rights to life, liberty, or property.