Rights vs Privileges

Every once in a while I ponder government, the Constitution, laws and the people of this nation and how they think. My oldest son went with my grandparents to a Republican meeting last week and came home asking a whole lot of questions. This has really got me thinking. And before anyone goes off about me speaking politics, let me be very clear that I believe the political system in this country is jacked up on all sides and is in desperate need of flushing to the place where all waste tends to end up.

The question he asked that really got me going is if alcohol should be outlawed.  There was a discussion and several at the meeting voiced that they thought it should be along with drugs and anything else that may make humans do bad things. I can see why some might say that considering I spent my early years in a home where alcohol caused a lot of pain and violence.

But I firmly hold to the belief that choice and freewill are the greatest gift next to Jesus God gave humanity and human choice cannot and should not be dictated to suit one or a million people’s personal experiences. Many times throughout history, leaders have tried and failed to do so. This country tried to ban alcohol and the bloodbaths and bootlegging that followed were a dark splotch on our history. Right now, drugs are outlawed and the violence and heartache attached with it is deplorable.

We’ve not stopped drug use. We’ve not controlled anyone. And before anyone says that crimes are committed when people use drugs and alcohol, I will counter with crimes are committed without drugs and alcohol.  In my opinion, we have escalated the problem, flooded our prisons and drained valuable resources trying to control human choice. Like I said above, we cannot and should not do it. We are not God and bad people will be bad no matter what the laws are or are not.

I do not use drugs or alcohol. I have seen many lives destroyed by them. Just because I do not like drugs and alcohol, it does not give me the right to impose my will on another. But see, that is what is happening. I do believe the line between rights and privileges have been blurred in this country for quite a while now. There are many things that are being disguised as rights when in fact they are privileges. I’m going to list the definitions to both and then we will sort through the differences.

**Definitions are provided from dictionary.com**

Right- noun: 18. a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral: You have a right to say what you please.

19. Sometimes, rights. that which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, moral principles, etc.: women’s rights; Freedom of speech is a right of all Americans.

20. adherence or obedience to moral and legal principles and authority.

21. that which is morally, legally, or ethically proper: to know right from wrong.

22. a moral, ethical, or legal principle considered as an underlying cause of truth, justice, morality, or ethics.

Privilege-noun: 1. a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most: the privileges of the very rich.

2. a special right, immunity, or exemption granted to persons in authority or office to free them from certain obligations or liabilities: the privilege of a senator to speak in Congress without danger of a libel suit.

3. a grant to an individual, corporation, etc., of a special right or immunity, under certain conditions.

4. the principle or condition of enjoying special rights or immunities.

5. any of the rights common to all citizens under a modern constitutional government: We enjoy the privileges of a free people.

Now, when we consider rights as far as what the Declaration of Independence says we know this:

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.

There are a few words that stick out more than others to me and sum up the meaning of this quote. Such as  “these truths to be self-evident”. To me, this means that each of us could ponder these things and we would ultimately come to the conclusion that what follows is truth. Next would be “endowed by the Creator”. That means no man granted these rights to you. You were born with them in the fabric of your very being. One that is ever important is “unalienable Rights”. This means no one but God can separate them from you because they are part of each human’s make up as much as their DNA.

Now, many people get confused with the Constitution and believe some things are rights that are listed when actually, they are privileges. Remember this, only the Bill of Rights lists rights given by the Creator. Certain things are actually given as a privilege by our government and I find the 14th Amendment very, very disturbing. Any decent amount of research will reveal that our government has done a very sneaky and backhanded thing with that one and many to follow. They created a 2nd class citizen that the government proclaimed had rights granted by the government.

But wait! The government isn’t the Creator of Nature, so how the heck can they grant rights? That answer is simple. They can’t. They fooled a nation with that one and the 14th Amendment has been ruled un-Constitutional several times for this very reason. Blacks, women and all humans of every kind are covered under the Bill of Rights because the Creator of Nature created all humans.

Are you scratching your head yet? Good. We need to think about these things. We need to have this knowledge so we are not fooled into believing a lie. The way I determine if something is a right or a privilege is to ask myself if a monetary value can be placed on it. Can you buy your choice of religion? Can you buy health care? Can you buy your choice to consume alcohol? Can you buy your choice to pierce your ears or eat bacon?

But many Christians will cry foul and say there is a moral obligation to not drink, not do drugs, provide each person with healthcare, feed every hungry mouth and make sure each person has a comfy bed and warm clothes. I say that is a personal choice no one can make for another and the government has no business in the business of individual choice. The ONLY time the government has the right to prevent one person’s right to choose is if it halts another individuals right to do the same.

If you want to provide healthcare to the nation, by all means, please, go for it, superstar. But I’ll not be paying for your or anyone elses abortion, birth control, gastropod-by-pass, or Viagra.  If you want to tell someone to not do drugs or not drink, by all means, have children because they are the only ones God grants you the right to do so to. I do not want to be anyone’s nanny. I had my own children and it was all I could do to raise them. If you want to feed the hungry or sew blankets for homeless people, I tip my hat to your kindness and I will do my own charity work. I’ll not have anyone guilt me into it or steal it from the public coffers because they are on a cause-chasing narcissism trip in which they feel all warm and fuzzy inside because they plotted out the salvation of humanity.

It is your right to voice your opinion on this. It is my right to ignore you. It is your right to think what you want. It is my right to think you are bat-poo crazy. It is your right to drink alcohol and eat bacon until your liver rots and your arteries clog. It is my right to call you a boozer and a fatty. Remember, these are all your personal choices and I’ll not take kindly to anyone but God Himself telling me I have to do the same.

Peace, love and God’s will.