The following is a list of frequently claimed human rights with a brief description of their origins. Some are fundamental, others are a derivative of a fundamental right. Still others are not rights at all but rather an abstract appeal to some human sensibility. These latter “rights” turn out to confuse the meaning of the word “right”. What Is a…Continue reading A List of Rights and Their Origins
Tag: #law
A legal document describing limitations on, or benefits to citizens subject to it.
The Fallacy that Became a Wall of Separation
The logical fallacy behind the wall of separation between church and state has been hidden in plain sight for over two centuries. A little logic reveals the misconception and explains its power to legalize prejudice. Because the wall is founded on an inadvertent delusion, we should expect to find symptoms of that error on both sides of the wall. And…Continue reading The Fallacy that Became a Wall of Separation
Bladensburg and the Wall That Couldn’t
There is a reason that the wall of separation between church and state cannot take down the Bladensburg Peace Cross memorial. (The proper name for the case is: The American Legion v. American Humanist Association.) Even SCOTUS seems unaware of the profound conflict hidden in that wall. But here it is. Let’s Keep This Simple Some believe that God created man,…Continue reading Bladensburg and the Wall That Couldn’t
Socialism: The Law of the Jungle
When you step onto the soil of backcountry Alaska, you lose your place at the top of the food chain. And you’d better be aware of that because the grizzly bear really likes his position at the top. But then, that’s his natural right, isn’t it? There is also a natural right that gives a cunning person the power to…Continue reading Socialism: The Law of the Jungle
Even Rocks Have Rights
This seems like a strange, maybe even oxymoronic topic. Yet because of the simple nature of a rock, you may soon experience the most profound understanding of human rights you have ever had. So bear with me a moment while I set the stage. This special rock is from my flower bed. For me, it represents the extraordinary yet ordinary…Continue reading Even Rocks Have Rights
Jack Phillips: Victim of Church and State
Under the Confusing Wall Between Church and State Jack Phillips of Lakewood, Colorado refused to bake a cake to celebrate a gay marriage. The citizens who wanted the cake took the matter to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. This is a case in point for the book I’m writing about separation of church and state. Laws designed to separate church…Continue reading Jack Phillips: Victim of Church and State
Church and State: an Oxymoron
The US Constitution has been successful because the founders based it on a frightful respect for the wiles and greed of powerful people. They examined governments ancient and modern and weighed their advantages and disadvantages. Their goal was to create a government that channeled human nature. The ongoing quest for religious freedom under the moniker “separation of church and state”…Continue reading Church and State: an Oxymoron
Human Rights: How to Know Them
A simple way to identify natural human rights is to ask the question, “Can this creature do so and so? If the answer is yes, then the natural right is obvious. If he can do it, he has the agency, the authority, the power, and therefore the right to do it. That’s an easy and powerful way to discover a…Continue reading Human Rights: How to Know Them
Rights: Threads of the Human Fabric
Our rights are at the center of almost every thought and activity of our lives. Even when we are not thinking about rights, we are exercising them. They are there, right in the middle of everything we think and do. This is a new thought for most of us. However, that insight leads to understanding many of the joys and…Continue reading Rights: Threads of the Human Fabric
The Physics of Morality
One of my readers suggested I treat the relativity theory of truth that many generation Y people have adopted, so that is my goal here today. This morality “theory” is often expressed this way, “What works for me is true for me and what works for you is true for you.” It strikes me first of all as a simple,…Continue reading The Physics of Morality