I am soberingly serious in the question, “Do We Still Believe In Inalienable Rights?”   America, do we still be in ‘inalienable’ rights for our nation and republic and ourselves?  I am convinced that most politicians do not believe that we have that level of rights.  They do not believe that we have certain ‘natural’ or ‘inalienable’ rights that come from a source higher than they.  They believe that they, the elected oligarch, who are the governors of our republic, are the ones who determine what rights the citizens have or do not have.  I disagree and so did our founders.  More importantly, so does God!

As we address this question and consider what our Inalienable Rights are it would be beneficial to remind everyone of the basic definition of “inalienable.”  It means, “incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred.” If we accept that definition, we quickly realize that the pursuit to restrict certain rights is unconstitutional.  Beyond that, it is an attempt to repudiate the most basic and foundational provisions our Creator gave to all humans on the planet. 

In the etymology of language, we discover some interesting nuggets regarding this word.  I insert them not to give a lesson in linguistics but to help provide a solid foundation for the Declarations of our Founding Fathers and our Rights as Americans and as humans. 

The words, alien, alienable, and inalienable contain the Latin ‘alius’ which means ‘other’.  That is at the root of all three words.  The word alien surfaced in the 14^th century, and in its earliest form meant “belonging to another.”  By the 1600s we developed the word and idea of ‘alienable’, an adjective to describe something we could give away or transfer ownership of.  Around the middle of the 17^th century, the word ‘inalienable’ or ‘unalienable’ was developed.  We are most familiar with it in our Declaration of Independence.  It was used to identify rights that could never be taken away or infringed.  Do we still believe in that concept in America today? 

I hope everyone will reread the Declaration of Independence and grasp the depth of understanding and commitment embodied in the wording used.  In the second paragraph, the indispensable words about our rights are found.  “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”  That is powerfully important because it makes it clear that the truths listed need not be demonstrated or explained, they are obvious.  Well, they should be obvious to everyone. However, some on the Left and too many politicians today.  But the Founders realized, God declares, and I believe that they are etched in granite and undeniable.

What were the ‘self-evident’ truths that our Founding Fathers held?  “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 is more but we could spend days defining and examining those. 

Created Equal.  We are not all equal in talent.  We are not all equal in intelligence.  We are not all equal in physical structure, but we are all human beings, and in that distinction, we are equal in the right to Life, the Right to Liberty, and the right to pursue Happiness.  We have certain rights that the government has no authority to touch, yet touch them they do, and touch them they will unless.  Unless?  Unless we the people stop their infringement.

I sometimes hear the argument from politicians and activists touting ‘equality.’  Yet, those same individuals or groups want to infringe upon the untouchable rights of others to achieve their perceived level of equality.  Equality was not meant to be something the government-guaranteed or provided.  The idea of created equal was that each person on the planet has the God-given Right to pursue certain things and have been graced by God with the impregnable right to do so.  Therefore, my desire is for the government to “Get Out of the Way!  Don’t touch my rights!  Don’t impede my pursuit!  Don’t attempt to legislate what only God can do!” 

We have the God-given Right to Life.  I’m sorry if that goes against the grain for those who want abortion on demand.  It is anathema to those who desire to force everyone into a state of political correctness where we must abandon our core beliefs on certain issues.  In the ‘Right to Life’ is a right that comes from our Creator, the one who created Life.  Many facets must be protected and defended. 

I find the three ‘inalienable rights’ listed, interconnected and progressions.  The Right to Life implies the Right to Liberty and affords one the unimpeded Right to pursue Happiness.  I would contend that the word ‘happiness’ might better be rendered, ‘fulfillment.’  No one, no man and no government has the right to impede my pursuit of personal fulfillment.  If I am pursuing that fulfillment in life, through the liberty guaranteed by my Creator and not infringing upon the rights of others or endangering others NO ONE has the right to prevent me from that objective.  I wonder, how many still believe in Inalienable Rights in America?

We have the God-given Right to Liberty.  What is Liberty?  It is the quality or state of being free.  In a sense, it is the right to do as we please but that must be brought into the context of infringement upon the natural rights of others.  If we overstep that liberty, we are no longer free to do what we please. 

Liberty most assuredly includes the ‘right of choice.’ In that I mean we can choose what we become in life.   I am not talking about abortion because I believe no one has the right to choose to end the life of the innocent unborn.  Embodied in the word Liberty is Freedom and that demands that we be free from forced compliance or coercion by the government.  We are part of a society and in that willing agree to participate in the social community we established a system of government wherein are established rules we all follow. 

We have the God-given Right to Pursue Happiness.  The most basic definition of happiness is, “a state of well-being and contentment.”  Merriam-Webster suggests that embodied in it is Joy.  I believe that Joy is a deep inner experience that is far more spiritual in nature than happiness.  Joy is not dependent upon circumstances or conditions it is rooted in belief and choice.  Happiness is usually dependent on external stimuli which affect or condition, position, and attitude.  We have the right to pursue Happiness and that is why I suggest that it might be more apropos to say ‘Fulfillment’ not just a state of euphoria as is often understood in the word happiness.

If we believe in Inalienable Rights, we must take heed and note the politicians and ideologies that desire to infringe upon those rights and reject them.  We must do that as a society and politically. 

It is my view that one political party, more than all others, desires to remove ‘inalienable’ from our constitutional guarantees and impose ‘governmental’ instead.  They view our rights as coming from the government and reject the idea that we all have Rights that they are disallowed to touch.  The government that provides everything controls everything.  Please note that and reject them in November and let’s restore America to the Constitutional Republic our Founders established.

God bless you and God bless America!