As it is Independence Day in the USA, it seemed an appropriate time to discuss the root of rights. As anyone could tell you, the definition of "rights" has been an ongoing fight in our country since its inception. What are our "unalienable" rights that the Declaration of Independence claims were "endowed by their Creator"? Unto whom are these rights given?
Our founding fathers started by outlining some of these rights in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Over time, movements brought expansions of these rights to parties that had before been denied. Through Lincoln and the later Civil Rights movement, people of color began to have rights such as more similar to their white equivalents through emancipation and desegregation. The Women's Suffrage movement made it so women could vote, leading to them gaining other freedoms and rights that made them closer to full citizens like their male counterparts. Still today we have movements for the LGBTQ and disabled communities.
What all of these groups and communities—what We the People fight for—is respect. I believe that it is every human being's God-given, inalienable right to choose; everyone has agency. We all fight to protect the extensions of that most basic right: to choose. Whether it is the choice of whom to marry, where to sit on a bus, to vote and who to vote for, to carry a gun, or to not do any of those things, these are the choices we fight to have a right to make for ourselves.
Privileged as I am to live in the United States of America, I do not however, believe that my rights are endless. I am not entitled to exert power over another person, to take away their own rights, or to make the judgement on what each individual deserves. I may not agree with other people's lifestyle choices, but that doesn't mean that I get to take away their freedoms. At this point in time, I believe that if you win the popular vote to make something that was before illegal or otherwise uncustomary legal, that's awesome and now no one stop you from exercising your agency to participate in this newly legal activity.
However, if you are forcing other people to support something against their own personal beliefs, shame on you. You can win the right, but you can't force support, because by doing so you are taking away someone else's rights.
See how quickly this gets tricky?
We don't live in a perfect society, and Lord knows we aren't all going to agree 100 percent and get along. If we can all agree to have equal respect for one another, try to listen and understand each other's weaknesses and strengths, and especially allow for the practice of free agency within the commonly consented laws, we will all be better off for it.
