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Originally Posted by onelifecrisis
God given? No such thing. Name one right of yours that didn't have to be fought for by someone.
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We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...
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I didn't say it, they did. Yes, rights must be defended, but that is a given
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"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure."
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Stephens Smith, November 13, 1787
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We indeed do believe that these rights are ours natually, and that others can take them away, but that they will never have the right to.
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And so do you, like it or not. Though I would replace the word "give" with "grant (sometimes under duress)".
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This is true, but you seem to accept it as the government's prerogative to call the tune. We don't.
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I agree that we're all constantly in danger of losing our rights, but it seems you're missing a contradiction: if they are 'God given' then how could you lose them?
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Simple. Someone bigger and stronger can keep them from us.
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That's a terrible evasion of the point, Steve, and I suspect you know it.
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Is it? The problem is that some see Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness as endangered by others' ownership of certain weapons. Their fears are valid, at least in their own eyes, and some reasonable control has to be acceptable. I've already pointed out elsewhere that even in the fabled 'Old West' towns had ordinances preventing the carrying of firearms in town, but not their ownership. Weapons that can destroy countries need to be monitored by countries. I don't claim to know what's best. Your arguments are as good as mine, but America was founded on the concept of individual liberty, and as Jefferson stated that liberty can never be protected if the people are disarmed.