3.1: What are my most basic rights as a living person?
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This article is from the Lawful Arrest/Search/Seizure FAQ, by Ahimsa Dhamapada ahimsa@mu.clarityconnect.net with numerous contributions by others.
3.1: What are my most basic rights as a living person?
Thomas Jefferson wrote these words:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, and were
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 created among men and
derive their just powers from the consent of
the governed. And when any government becomes
destructive to these ends, it is the right of
the people to alter or abolish it."
So according to TJ, we all have the right to life, the
right to be free, the right to seek happiness, and the
right to resist/destroy a government that is oppressive
these rights. These are the natural rights.
[Note that Jefferson asserts that these rights are
"self-evident", and that he does not appeal to any
particular god or religious text. While he does use the
word "Creator", this has many interpretations and should
not be interpreted to deny those of different beliefs their
rights, even atheists. (Many of the Founding Fathers,
including Jefferson, were Deists, which today might be
considered a branch of Paganism).]
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