What We Believe
Rights
We believe that all people have certain rights, which are theirs from birth and which cannot be taken from them. Many people believe these rights to be imbued by God the Creator; others see them as inherent to consciousness and self-awareness. But all agree that these rights are fundamental to all people. These include the right to live, the right to speak freely and without retribution, the right to own property and do with it anything they desire, the right to live their lives in the way they desire, the right to associate with others or to refrain from associating with others, the right to defend themselves against any attacks by others, and the right to defend others exercising the same rights when those others are attacked. These rights are absolute; they can only be restrained when exercising them would interfere with the rights of others to exercise the same rights.
This is not an exhaustive list of the rights people are born with. There are certainly other rights that are inherent with existence, but which we haven't specified here. There are some rights that might be thought of as growing from the rights listed, but which others might consider individual rights.
You will notice that these rights are not predicated on any particular personal characteristic or on membership in any particular group. These are rights inherent to all people. They inhere to the individual, not to any group.
From these rights grow the concepts of freedom and liberty. “Freedom” is the condition of being free of restraints, especially the ability to act without control or interference by another or by circumstance. It also includes the capacity to act by choice rather than by determination. “Liberty” is a similar concept, the condition of being free from oppressive restriction or control by a government or other power. The rights listed above show that we believe all people are born free. To achieve liberty they must accept only those restrictions upon their freedom that they agree to, acting in consort with other individuals. An example would be agreeing to work together to provide for the defense of the group all belong to rather than each individual trying to defend only himself and those he's responsible for.
The Right to Live
The right to live is fundamental; without life no other right has meaning. Intentionally depriving an innocent person of his life is a crime in every civilized society in existence. The only legitimate reasons for depriving another person of his life are the defense of yourself or another person who is in danger of being killed, or conviction for a capital crime after having been tried by a jury of peers. Anything else is immoral and outside the bounds of civilized behavior.
The determination of personhood is one fraught with difficulty. In times past, the personhood of people was denied because of ethnicity, religion, mental capacity, and various other criteria. We believe that none of these criteria are valid determinants of personhood. A human being is a person from birth until death, automatically and without qualification.
Many believe that personhood imbues a human being even before birth. There are varied beliefs about when an unborn human being becomes a person—some believe this occurs at conception, some when the heart starts beating, some when a response to pain is evident, some when brain activity begins, some when viability outside the womb is possible. But almost none of us believe that personhood only begins at birth. For this reason abortion, particularly late-term and partial-birth abortion, is widely considered immoral and unconscionable.
The Right to Speak Freely and Without Retribution
All people have the right to say whatever they want to say, without fear of retribution. Attempts to prevent others from speaking or to prevent them from being heard because their views disagree with those of the people making the attempts are unacceptable. Rebuttals of disagreeable speech are of course allowed, as such discussion will allow all points of view to be heard.
The right to speak without retribution makes the imposition of speech codes and the public shaming of those voicing unpopular opinions immoral and deplorable. Such activities are not acceptable in a free society. Such actions only serve to show those who do them to be unable to defend their beliefs against opposition.
The Right to Own Property and Do With It Anything You Desire
Everyone has the right to own property and to use it in any way he wants providing he doesn't interfere with the rights of others in doing so. There is no moral right to restrict a person from using his property as he sees fit. A person can voluntarily agree to restrictions as a condition of acquiring the property, but restrictions imposed after the acquisition of the property are immoral and should not be allowed. The taking of personal property for a societal good (the concept of imminent domain) should only be allowed for a demonstrable benefit to society in general, and with adequate compensation to the owner, not because some authority believes that a different owner would provide the authority itself with some benefit.
The Right to Live Your Life in the Way You Desire
So long as you aren't harming others or interfering with their exercise of their rights, you are free to live your life however you wish to. You have no moral requirement to get someone else's permission to do the things you want to do. Of course, no one else is under any moral obligation to do the things you want them to do just because you say so. This right is related to the right to speak freely, the right to associate with those you want to and to not associate with those you don't, and the right to defend yourself and others from harm. At its base, this right is what the concept of “liberty” means.
The Right to Associate With Others or to Refrain From Associating With Others
You have the moral right to associate with anyone you would like to, and the moral right to not associate with those you find undesirable. No one may force you into associations you don't desire, or to forbid you to associate with others at your discretion. The right to privacy comes from this fundamental right, as well as the right of security of your personal information. As well, the right to refuse entry to your property to anyone including agents of the government is derived from this right. If you are a business owner or service provider, the right to decide what services or products you provide and the conditions under which you provide them are also derived from this right.
The Right to Defend Yourself Against Attacks by Others
The right to life would be meaningless without the inherent right to defend yourself against attack. You have the absolute right to do so. You also have the right to possess the means of defending yourself, both the objects necessary for that defense and the training and ability to employ those objects competently. This right is unalienable, meaning it can neither be taken from you, nor can you give it up. You always possess it.
“Attack” does not refer exclusively to physical assault. You can be attacked physically, verbally, socially, financially, and in other ways. You always have the right to defend yourself against attacks of any sort.
The Right to Defend Others When They are Attacked
We all recognize that there are some who are unable to defend themselves (the young and the infirm are two examples) against attack. You have the right to defend others who are under attack just as you may defend yourself. Defending others against attack is one of the basic principles of civilized behavior. It is sometimes difficult not to attack the attackers yourself, but doing so is not defending others. Your right to defend others only extends to protecting them from attack and stopping the attack itself.
Current Reality
We recognize that many of the fundamental rights defined above are being abrogated or denied in our society today. That doesn't invalidate these rights, it merely acknowledges that our society is imperfect. We believe that we must work to change society in all its aspects so these rights are fully recognized and accepted, and are allowed to all people. Only when everyone has freedom and liberty, will we have freedom and liberty.
Responsibilities
All rights come with responsibilities. The very fact that other people exist and have the same rights we do creates the responsibility to not interfere with their rights while exercising ours. And these responsibilities are not corporate, belonging only to some nebulous group, but are personal, belonging to each of us individually. You are yourself responsible for the proper exercise of your rights and the defense of others' exercise of their rights.
Responsibility for Your Life and the Lives of Others
This responsibility applies to several of the rights listed above: the right to live, the right to defend yourself, and the right to defend others. You are responsible for your own life. If anyone is threatening your life or the lives of others, it is your responsibility to do whatever you can to eliminate that threat. If you are able to subdue the attacker or otherwise remove the threatened people from potential harm, you have a moral obligation to do so. If you are unable to do this, you have an obligation to contact anyone else you can in order to try to accomplish this. Depending on some authority to take these actions for you is abrogating your responsibility—you must do what you can to protect your and others' lives, personally.
Responsibility for Free Speech
Everyone has the right to speak freely. You must not allow yourself to be silenced by those who dislike what you are saying. By the same token, you must not try to silence or allow others to try to silence those who say things you disagree with. Rebutting the things others say that you disagree with is certainly your right, but keeping them from saying those things is unacceptable and it is your responsibility to ensure that they can speak.
You must refuse any sort of punitive actions against yourself or others, even those you disagree with, for the things they have said. If such punitive actions are taken by others or by those in authority, it is your moral obligation to refuse to support those who take such actions, until the actions are rescinded. It is also your responsibility to work to get such actions rescinded, whenever they occur.
No speech is automatically criminal, or “hate speech.” If someone's speech causes him or others to engage in criminal actions, those actions are prosecutable. But the only speech that is prosecutable is that which calls for such criminal actions to take place. However much you may dislike the things being said, the right to say them is absolute.
Responsibility for Your Property
You are responsible for maintaining your property and for ensuring that others you invite to make use of it are not harmed by it. If your property is stolen or is used without your permission, any injury caused by its use is not your responsibility. By the same token, you must not attempt to hold others responsible for the misuse of their stolen or otherwise misappropriated property.
Responsibility for Your Life Choices
You may live your life in any way you desire. You are responsible for the direct effect your lifestyle has on others. For example, if you choose to play loud music at 3 AM you are responsible for ensuring that others who wish to sleep at that time are not kept from doing so by your music.
Others may try to take advantage of this responsibility by positing some unquantifiable effect of your lifestyle choices. In general, if your choices don't limit the choices of others you have a moral right to them. You also have a responsibility to support others whose choices are being questioned, if those choices don't actually affect anyone else.
Responsibility for Free Association
You may associate or refuse to associate with anyone you desire, as may anyone else. You must not try to force an unwanted association on others, or try to prevent a desired association. When others attempt this, it is your responsibility to support those being targeted in their intentions. This includes both individuals and businesses—businesses may not be forced to provide products or services they don't wish to provide, or prohibited from providing products or services they wish to. You must support such businesses even if you disagree with their decisions about these products or services.
Individuals and businesses may not be forced to provide information they don't wish to provide unless required to by formal legal proceedings. You must support these individuals and businesses if they refuse to do so.
Responsibility for Defending Yourself and Others
When you or others you are aware of are attacked, you must defend yourself and them in any way you can. As explained above, “attack” does not mean only physical assault. You must respond to any attacks in an appropriate fashion. This response must be measured, and intended to stop the attack and protect those being attacked. The original attack may not be used as an excuse for an attack of your own. However, if such a counterattack is the only to stop the provoking attack it is not only allowed, but required.
Citizenship
In the description of responsibilities above, the phrases “you must” and “you are responsible for” are moral and not legal phrases. These responsibilities are requirements for proper citizenship, allowing us all to protect and support each other in the free exercise of our rights, and to ensure the blessings of liberty to each and every one of us.
