Friday, March 27, 2009

Where Do Rights Come From?

Washington seems to think that the rights we enjoy as citizens of this country come from the federal governing body. Sadly, too many of us are fooled into thinking likewise. However, our Founders understood Natural Rights along with their source - which is why they set up a Constitution to defend them, not provide them.

Consider the following statements from two influential founders:

Rights are not gifts from one man to another, nor from one class of men to another...It is impossible to discover any origin of rights otherwise than in the origin of man; it consequently follows that rights appertain to man in right of his existence, and must therefore be equal to every man. - Thomas Paine

Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? - Thomas Jefferson

I took these quotes from an incredible discourse on our country entitled "The Proper Role of Government" by Ezra Taft Benson. If you have not yet read it, I highly recommend that you do so. A simple internet search of the title and author will help you find the text.

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