The concept of individual rights was transformational. The philosophers of the Enlightenment, like John Locke, were a primary inspiration for our founders, who then codified human rights into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and they further believed that the government’s primary function was to protect those rights.
Rights are not bestowed upon us by government. They are an inherent part of our humanity. They can neither be given nor taken away; they can only be protected or violated.
Our most fundamental rights are life and such freedoms of action as human life requires. That implies that liberty is an […]
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