The nature of our rights, Constitutionally speaking.

[BackAgain]

If our rights are given by the Constitution (gov't) then they can also be taken away. The whole point of the Bill of Rights is to prevent gov't from taking our rights away. Hence those rights are guaranteed and existed prior to the Constitution was created.

I fully agree that if we accept the premise that “government gives us our rights,” then we are bound to admit that the “government may take them away.”

And, since I find that to be an absurd thing to agree with, I also agree that our rights aren’t gifted to us by our government.

 

[dblack]

It's an interesting argument, because it really has to do with one's ambitions for government. Statists and liberals want ever more government. In their view, government is the source of all good things. So of course it "gives" us our rights. Conservatives and libertarians are wary of government, and claim their rights regardless of whether the government protects them.

 

[rightwinger]

It's an interesting argument, because it really has to do with one's ambitions for government. Statists and liberals want ever more government. In their view, government is the source of all good things. So of course it "gives" us our rights. Conservatives and libertarians are wary of government, and claim their rights regardless of whether the government protects them.

We want the right sized government that provides the services and protections that we demand

 

[dblack]

We want the right sized government that provides the services and protections that we demand

You're free to want whatever you like. Just stow the billy clubs and stop trying to force your preferences on others.

 

[rightwinger]

You're free to want whatever you like. Just stow the billy clubs and stop trying to force your preferences on others.

No
The way it works is we elect Representatives who provide the goods and services we demand

 

[dblack]

No
The way it works is we elect Representatives who provide the goods and services we demand

Nope. That's not the purpose of government. This is where liberals go off the rails.

 

[rightwinger]

Nope. That's not the purpose of government. This is where liberals go off the rails.

To quote that great Republican Abe Lincoln

A government of the people, by the people and for the people
shall not perish from this earth

 

[dblack]

To quote that great Republican Abe Lincoln

A government of the people, by the people and for the people
shall not perish from this earth

Listen.. no matter how much you mutter that phrase to yourself - it's not what you think. It's not a call for socialism. Not a call for majority rule. "We the People" is recognition that ALL of the people have rights. Not just the majority.

 

[gipper]

To quote that great Republican Abe Lincoln

A government of the people, by the people and for the people
shall not perish from this earth

Except it never was and certainly wasn’t when that lying asshole said it, while murdering half the country to prevent them from having a government of by and for the people.

 

[rightwinger]

Except it never was and certainly wasn’t when that lying asshole said it, while murdering half the country to prevent them from having a government of by and for the people.

He attacked a country that had waged war against the United States

 

[norwegen]

Nope. That's not the purpose of government. This is where liberals go off the rails.

Providing goods and services was not the intended purpose of government, and it certainly wasn't what the new government did.

But left-wingers got hold of it, especially after the emergence of the Democrat Party in the 1820s, and now, after a couple centuries corrupting our republic, they've got people thinking that goods and services are a right.

 

[rightwinger]

Providing goods and services was not the intended purpose of government, and it certainly wasn't what the new government did.

But left-wingers got hold of it, especially after the emergence of the Democrat Party in the 1820s, and now, after a couple centuries corrupting our republic, they've got people thinking that goods and services are a right.

What goods and services are provided by government?

 

[norwegen]

What goods and services are provided by government?

Which goods and services were you thinking of in post #85?

 

[Alicia J]

A thread started by Votto quoting Justice Thomas got me thinking. (Always dangerous, I suppose.)

Here is the link to Votto ‘s OP. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas blasts progressivism as threat to America

ANYWAY, my question is open to both our more or less liberal/progressive posting members and our conservative members.

Under our Constitution, do you believe that our rights are “given” to us by the Constitution, itself, or that those rights are only guaranteed to us by the Constitution but that the source of those rights existed before the Constitution was even drafted?

Public vote. Feel free to add other answers.

You're asking the wrong question. sparky nailed it in post #4.

 

[Alicia J]

Animals cant have rights because they cant be aware they have rights. However, we can create rights on their behalf and we do. We dont allow abuse or cruelty of animals.

Why do they have to be aware? That doesn't determine a right.

For thousands of years, human beings toiled in slavery without realizing they had rights.

 

[gipper]

He attacked a country that had waged war against the United States

He attacked his own countrymen for wanting their own government of by and for the people.