“Rights” you are

      by Brad Stine

One of the easiest phrases to roll off the tongue of an American is when speaking of our “rights”. I have the “right” to freedom of speech based on the 1st amendment. I have the “right” to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I have the “right” to believe in whatever God I choose or no God at all. I have the “right” to disagree with the decisions my government makes without fear of reprisal and the “right” to get rid of them if I think they’re doing a bad job. I have the “right” to own property and the “right” to defend it.

I have the “right” to marry whom I want and the “right” to be left alone in my own home without concern for government intrusion. I have the “right” to travel freely from state to state without a passport or permission for the matter.

Yes I have innumerous amounts of “rights” in the United States and we spend a lot of time and money trying to get more every day.

The truth of the matter is we do indeed possess these “rights”; what isn’t true is that all of them are intrinsic to our nature. No, the truth is we don’t actually “have” ANY rights in America, if in “rights” we mean I deserve them or earned them.

The “rights” we do have, have been given to us! The “rights” you have to speak freely was given to us by people who DIED speaking freely. The “right” you have to worship freely here without the concern for coercion or jail time was given to you by people who left their native home to hand us that privilege.

The right to despise your government, AND more importantly publicly say so was given to you by people who fought and died, literally, to create a government that allowed itself to be challenged.

I hate war but humanity has proven we can’t exist without it. You can protest war in America only because people who fought in war gave you the privilege. My point is that we should be beyond grateful for all the “rights” we possess as American’s; but perhaps we should all be more careful about flippantly utilizing the word “rights” as though this is common to man.

It should roll off your tongue with somber awe and dignity as though you have been given access to using the king’s name in order to pass through hostile terrain. It should be honored by the weight of its presence. If you have the “right” to burn your own flag, it should be for that very reason that you never do!

This is something that used to be called honor and yet seems only to be taught now to soldiers.
It is only “right” that we never take for granted what most of us have been given simply because of the land our mothers inhabited as they gave birth.

You see the Founding Fathers didn’t create our “rights” when they crafted the Constitution, they believed our rights came from God, thus they are immutable and sacred.

We are watching these rights erode as those who say they believe in “equal rights” miss the discipline that demands that believing in equality means you don’t censor those who find your behavior immoral or harmful to the culture at large. The 1st line of the 1st amendment told this new Nation what the Founders considered most sacred as a people, freedom of conscience.

Free thought without media derision or bullying is what gives us as Americans the single most cherished right in the world…Liberty.

Remember, even though we believe that God created all men equal, it is left to us in this fallen state to honor that and instigate it whenever we can. Why? Because the Creator said that this is “right”.

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/godscomic/2013/05/rights-you-are-2.html#ixzz2SXRUaU1C