It is very unlikely that there is a god or a ultimate universal creator. There is no evidence to support this concept. I have no doubt that believing in god makes a lot of people happy. Fantasy can make us happy from time to time. ( So I am going to presume that god does not exist. ) Human rights do not flow from god since god does not exist. Human do NOT have rights. god does NOT hand out rights.
What is given to humans are privileges or courtesies. When you walk down the street, most humans give you the courtesy of not bumping into you ; no one rushes up and robs you. Your car windows are not smashed every time it is parked outside. Much of life consists of people practicing a philosophy of live and let live.
The courtesies are a result of humans becoming civilized. The result of people becoming smarter and more aware of themselves and their neighbors. A human is taught to be civilized and they can also be taught to be crazy and vindictive and violent. A human can be taught that muslims are crazy. A human can be taught that non-muslims are the devil. A human can be taught that the US government is synonymous with the people that live within the borders of America. A human can be taught that US soldiers are heroes and that other soldiers are cowards, terrorists, madmen. A human can be taught they are an irrevocable part of a wolfpak ....that is .... they are an American citizen. They are America and America is them.
Humans have a born-with part of their brain that has developed over a million years. This brain segment was very useful when humans were learning about fire and battling mastodons and avoiding volcanic lava flow. I call this segment ... the lizard brain. This segment is mostly worthless in modern life... it lives on and has great influence in situations where it should not. One thing the lizard brain is not interested in is extending courtesies to others. The lizard brain is more or less anti-civilization.
The lizard brain seeks power and affluence. It conflates these with a safe and successful life. Owning slaves is okay by the lizard brain. Theft and violence is okay by the lizard brain. Fraud is okay by the lizard brain. The lizard brain lives by the Iron Rule ...... do it to them before they do it to you. The lizard brain would never think of extending courtesies to others unless it was part of a scam. Politicians rely heavily on their lizard brain.
Rights and freedom and liberty come from humans who are transcending their lizard brain. Such humans are moving toward a state I call SOPHONT2.0. They use their intelligence to evaluate their situation. They use their intelligence to plot their life strategy. They look at the big picture and they consider the long term. They like freedom and liberty. They consider individuals one at a time. They do not group people according to irrelevant group characteristics. ( Such as skin color , sex , age , height , place of origin, .... ) Violence is the last approach they consider.
Freedom , liberty , love , friendship are given to you. You cannot obtain these using a gun. You must give in order to receive these valuable courtesies.
99guspuppet
the crucial philosophical insight is the one that ties the assumptions regarding 'human rights' to 'god'
ReplyDeleteneed bit of research to see how the term 'inalienable' was defined by claims for "inalienable rights"
usually it did imply "born with . . . "
so, if somebody, anybody, has to GIVE you those rights, then they are not 'inalienable',
unless that somebody is a magician so somehow your getting born at all was part of the magician "bundled" package --
for $99.95, you get (1) born (2) human 'rights' (3) tv
I included the 3rd "service", tv, since i could not think of a third product for the magician bundle for $99.95