Some months ago I heard President Obama state on a tv news show, "---healthcare is a basic human right." (I can't remember the prefatory adjective.) I have been pondering as to the definition of the authority that creates basic human rights. I do not think that the President or any other individual can do that. For example, if I state that it is a basic human right to pick fruit off any fruit tree you encounter, that does not make it so. Such a right can only be exercised against me and my fruit trees if I have any. In my opinion, the rights which every American has were established by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, each of which were approved by the 13 colonies (for the Declaration of Independence) and the 13 states (for the Constitution). Subsequent rights have been established legislatively either in implementation of or under the authority of the Constitution. Some rights are established by religious organizations but they are enforceable only by the adherents of that religion. Various religious documents, such as the Bible, also set up rights, which are possessed by the adherents of that religion. However, religious documents which I have read appear to me to be more concerned with responsibility than rights. Of course there is a general right to pray.
This dissertation will no doubt produce controversy and I will be happy to receive any comments.
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I think 'ole Thomas got it pretty near right:
ReplyDelete"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Anything so broadly defined wouldn't make it out of Congressional Committee these days, I fear. Too controversial.
... and that's the way it is.