Read Part One here.
Where do rights come from?
We have established that rights are permanent gifts given to everyone equally at their creation, unable to be transferred, denied, sold, or taken. But who gives us these rights?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.... (emphasis added)
Rights are given to men by the Creator, God Almighty. This very fact has the potential to change lives. But why?
I'm sure you've heard of civil rights, political rights, legal rights, and those such things. Well, those things as we know them don't actually exist. See, according to the definitions of these words, their existence often hinges on the government. Many people, government officials especially, talk about "giving" or "taking away" our civil rights. But, as we have seen, rights come, not from government, but from God. No government can give rights or take them away. They cannot deny us our rights or transfer them to another. What does this mean?
One of the hottest topics in today's culture is the government "taking away" our right to keep and bear arms. Putting aside for a moment all the debates over whether that is a right and what "keep and bear arms" actually means, let's examine this debate in the light of our new knowledge.
The government does not give us our rights and cannot take them away. No one can take them away. This means that even should a government declare it illegal to ever own a weapon, every man still has an absolute right to keep and bear arms, and even should the government send troops to take those weapons away, men have every right to stand up and fight them. In fact, that was how our country was founded (look up the battles at Lexington and Concord in 1775 and learn more about them).
Freedom of speech is one of the most hated rights by governments. Almost no other right has been the center of more attacks and laws. However, since our rights come from our Creator and not our government, we always have and always will have the right to speak our minds. Even should they arrest us, put us in jail, or kill us for exercising our right, our right it will remain. No government can tell you to shut up.
Clearly, this is radical, even dangerous thinking. Yes, there is a reason the American Declaration of Independence has been banned in many countries all over the world. But if we can break through the Great Rights Illusion, we can become so much more than what we are now. If we embrace what we've been given by God and refuse to let anyone lie to us about it, we will do what Americans have done since the beginning of our country, what we are known for.
We will change the world.
One of the hottest topics in today's culture is the government "taking away" our right to keep and bear arms. Putting aside for a moment all the debates over whether that is a right and what "keep and bear arms" actually means, let's examine this debate in the light of our new knowledge.
The government does not give us our rights and cannot take them away. No one can take them away. This means that even should a government declare it illegal to ever own a weapon, every man still has an absolute right to keep and bear arms, and even should the government send troops to take those weapons away, men have every right to stand up and fight them. In fact, that was how our country was founded (look up the battles at Lexington and Concord in 1775 and learn more about them).
Freedom of speech is one of the most hated rights by governments. Almost no other right has been the center of more attacks and laws. However, since our rights come from our Creator and not our government, we always have and always will have the right to speak our minds. Even should they arrest us, put us in jail, or kill us for exercising our right, our right it will remain. No government can tell you to shut up.
Clearly, this is radical, even dangerous thinking. Yes, there is a reason the American Declaration of Independence has been banned in many countries all over the world. But if we can break through the Great Rights Illusion, we can become so much more than what we are now. If we embrace what we've been given by God and refuse to let anyone lie to us about it, we will do what Americans have done since the beginning of our country, what we are known for.
We will change the world.
