Due to GWB I've come full circle to where I started politically. Hopefully I'm done voting for the lessor evil.
Are you revoking evil's lease?
Because we are humans. Because it's better than the alternative. From our sentience.
More importantly and in short, I have rights because I'm willing to defend them. The philosophical stuff is nice, and I like it. But at the end of the day, folks are (thus far) not willing to pay the price to take them from me.
That is the true answer at the end of the day. Because it works, we like it, and we're willing to kill to keep it.
"Might makes rights" sounds catchy, but it is incorrect. Rights have inherent in them ethical and/or moral content ("
Despite might, this is right because of xyz."). Might is power and has no ethical content. If you have the power to make something happen, in the absence of ethical fetters, you may do so.
And God save me from His followers. Morality does not stem from God. It stems from peaceful reflection into ones own being and his method of fitting into this world. Our shifty-eyed enemies in that sandy place 10,000 miles away demonstrate how strict adherence to Godly Paper ends up playing out.
Sorry, but that is absurd. Both in assuming humans required (or had much) peace to think philosophically and that any philosophy developed in the West after the birth of Christ can have recognizably moral content and not be derivative of Christianity. Tell me, how many of the increasingly popular neo-pagan groups actually execute their rituals as they were in pre-Christian times? Humane/humanist philosophies are derived from Chriatian Humanism, which was derived from Christian thought & morality.
In the case of many/most in western civ nowadays, morality is a shadow of a man on the doorstep who has been shoved outside. They can see and describe the general outline, but the detail is gone and the reason for it remains unseen.
Our classical form of government as built in the 18th century has more in common with Plato's Republic and the philosophical libertarian discourse of the day than any anecdotal government or moral code reflected in the Bible or other sacred texts.
[or_not]Which is why they rejected a gov't of limited powers in the COTUS and set up G Washington as the first of many Philosopher Kings.[/or_not]
Also, there was no "libertarian" discourse. There was classically liberal discourse, but they are not interchangeable.
I purposely chose three founders who were different enough from each other to properly illustrate how important an ethical right thinking populace was critical to a republics success.
All of the significant Founders were either Christian (the majority), Christian derivatives (Deists & suchlike), or thought that for the sake of civil society and their own well being that the vast majority ought to be Christian (Franklin).
They realized that absent self-discipline, discipline would have to be imposed.
The declaration of independence and constitution were, and once again are revolutionary because they proclaim our natural rights are derived from natures God. We have rights because that is the way God created us. Natural law is discoverable because the law giver has created a rational universe.
The Diests and Theists of that day were philosophical or theological derivatives of belief in the Jewish and Christian God.
Power only respects great power. If everyone, no matter how powerful, must answer to Nature's Creator (or believe they will have to do so), the reach of the powerful may be limited.