American History

» pink101 - Great Subject For An Article

.
The ideas of the "Inalienable Rights" with which humanity is endowed seems as though they would make up a great subject for an article.
.
They do speak to the life style human beings experience in a natural state, do they not?
.
Is not the idea of EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY one of the main inalienable rights?
.

-- posted by pink101

» Brian Tubbs - Great Subject For An Article

In response to Great Subject For An Article posted by pink101:

There's a saying that's popular in my church. I didn't coin it, but I like it. "A need seen is an assignment given." So, Pink, I look forward to your article on the subject.

» pink101 - Great Subject For An Article

In response to Great Subject For An Article posted by BrianTubbs:

.
I'm sure that I can address the issue involved; but, I would like to see some input from others.
.

-- posted by pink101

» pink101 - Of Course

.
Of course, the inalienable rights are the ones human beings would have in their natural state where there is no government.
.

-- posted by pink101

» pink101 - Of Course

In response to Of Course posted by pink101:

.
And our government is instituted to secure those rights for everyone--not just the strong and skillful.
.

-- posted by pink101

» Brian Tubbs - Of Course

In response to Of Course posted by pink101:

Well, according to the Declaration of Independence, our "inalienable rights" are those we get from the Creator. Don't forget that part, Pink.

» pink101 - Equality

In response to Of Course posted by BrianTubbs:
.
I don't think the emphasis belongs on "our creator" according to what little research I've done so far.
.
It is more about being in the natural state without government; thus, the "our creator" bit that is like saying without any endowment by any human authority.
.
The problem with living in the natural state is that some of us are bigger and stronger than others. So, if there were any contention over some food or any thing else, the stronger might exercise power over the weaker. So, government is instituted to secure those rights for the individual. In other words, the purpose of government is to bring equality to human beings.
.
Obviously, government is failing in this area.
.

-- posted by pink101

» pink101 - The Text

.
The text of the Declaration of Independence is clear once we have the proper perspective.
.
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, - ---The Declaration of Independence
.
It's easy enough to see that a comparison is drawn in the text that differentiates the natural state from the societal state.
.

-- posted by pink101

» Brian Tubbs - Equality

In response to Equality posted by pink101:

Your reference to some being bigger and stronger alludes to the disagreement between Locke and Hobbes over the "state of nature." The latter saw life in such a state being "nasty, brutish, and short" (if I remember the quote correctly).

» Brian Tubbs - Creator

In response to Equality posted by pink101:

Pink, your dismissal of the importance of the Creator in the Declaration clashes with that placed on the Creator by the Declaration's author.

"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: Notes on Virginia Q.XVIII, 1782. ME 2:227

According to Mr. Jefferson, there is little if any security in our rights if we take away from the minds of the people the CONVICTION that God is the source for those rights. Hence, he places a pretty high importance on the divine.

Now, I would think that Thomas Jefferson's opinion on the meaning and importance of the Declaration of Independence and the concept of natural rights in early America carries a wee-bit more influence and credibility than yours or mine.