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cal823 · May 22, 2007, 04:09 AM

Something popped up when I was answering a question the other day.
My opinion is that there are laws(legal rights etc) and RIGHTS (moral rights)
I though that itd be interesting to discuss.
What are your opinions/experiences?
Do you believe that the law has the right to determine our rights?

shygrneyzs · May 22, 2007, 05:25 AM

Yes, I believe there are both legal and moral rights. In the U.S. there is even one of those court TV programs called, "Moral Court" where a Judge presides and litigates moral disputes. I have only watched it once so cannot say much about it.

Does the law have the right to determine our rights? It alreeady does, not that I agree with the law all the time.

inthebox · May 23, 2007, 10:37 AM

The lawmakers, congress in the US and local city, county, state etc.. Governments, determine what are the 'laws' - does not mean all laws are "moral." e.g. abortion.

Who determines #1] what is moral [ whose standard - the Bible? ], #2] if it is a right?

I'm cynical, when people say something is a "right , " they mean they want taxpayers to fund it.

Where is the taxpayors' right ?

I say leave the government and lawmakers from legislating behavior.

Just my $0.02

shygrneyzs · May 23, 2007, 01:29 PM

I appreciate your cynicism. Your points are well taken. I don't believe the Bible is the standard chosen for moral rights, unless it becomes an outcry from the public, then the legislators will run and hide behind the Bible.

When someone says, "this is my right", "I want my rights" you don't hear much about them saying they have the moral responsibility to recognize the consequences. Heck, what are consequences anyway? If a consequence stands in front of their "rights" you know what will be knocked over.

If there were no legislation for parameters of human behavior, there would only be people running amuck because they lack the ability to legislate their own behavior. On the flip side, there are already people running amuck. So there is no easy answer. And you cannot answer for everyone, you can only answer for your behavior.

excon · May 23, 2007, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by cal823

do you believe that the law has the right to determine our rights?

Hello cal:

Naaaah, I like the way it is in the US. Here, we start by having ALL the rights. We give some of them up to the government so that it can do its job.

The rights that we haven't specifically given to government belong to us. If the government doesn't believe it (and we expected they wouldn't), we specifically listed (in the first 10 amendments), laws they COULDN'T make that would infringe upon our liberty. We call them the Bill of Rights.

Of course, that's the way it’s supposed to be. Bummer. It's a long way from that these days.

excon

JimGunther · Jul 9, 2008, 08:56 PM

I majored in government and politics in college and in this country, the government and the rights we enjoy are set up by the U.S. Constitution. This document does not grant "rights" to the government, but lists the "powers" each branch of government has.

Only individuals have rights. Most of them are listed in the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments)and are protected by the Court system. If a person's rights are violated, there is a legal remedy.

We can speak of moral rights, and people will have all sorts of ideas as to what these might be, but the only rights that are enforceable in this country are those listed in the U.S. Constitution, these are defined as "unalienable" rights.

Where do the "unalienable" rights come from? Formally, once the Constitution was ratified by the States, the rights came from the Constitution, but the Declaration of Independence is more specific about where our rights come from. It states "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."