...What are Unalienable Rights?

Unalienable rights are those which God gave to man at the Creation, once and for all. By definition, since God granted such rights, governments could not take them away. In America, this fundamental truth is recognized and enshrined in our nation's birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence:



"[A]ll men are created equal...[and] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."



It is important to understand that the very premise of our nation is the fact that these rights, based on Natural Law, are "God-given." If they are not given to us by an Authority higher than human government, then any government action to abolish those rights would be against God's will. Rights that are subject to government restriction or license are called a privilege rather than a right. The Founding Fathers understood this principle and created a revolution in political theory by enacting, for the first time in history, a government specifically established to protect the rights that had been given to man by God.



"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

The proper role of government is to secure rights, as in a perfect state of nature our unalienable rights are very insecure.



An exhaustive list of the unalienable rights possessed by man would probably fill several volumes. However, at a minimum they include the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In general, the courts have not decided which rights are unalienable and which are not. Nonetheless, some philosophers[Citation Needed] have identified the following items, derived from the American Bill of Rights, as expanding on these themes:



To act in self-defense (personal, family, innocents, nation).

To own and carry weapons for self-defense and for ensuring that the nation remains free.

To own and control private property (land, money, personal items, intellectual property, etc.)

To earn a living and keep the fruit of one's labor.

To freely migrate within the country or to leave the country.

To worship—or not worship—God in the manner one chooses.

To associate with—or disassociate from—any person or group.

To express any idea through print, voice, banner, or other media.

To be secure in one's home, papers, and person against unwarranted searches and seizures (privacy).

To be advised of the charges, in the event of arrest.

To have a judge determine if the accused should be held for trial or for punishment.

To be tried by a jury of one's peers and face one's accuser, in the event of being charged with a crime.

To be tried by a jury of one's peers, in the event of a suit in which the disputed amount is substantive.

To suffer no cruel or unusual punishment.

To establish, monitor, control, and petition our servant government to help secure the above rights.

To abolish said government, when it becomes destructive of these rights.