Not All Freedoms are Rights

We often hear politicians and activists talking about "rights", as in a right to health insurance, or "We should not take away a couple's right to marry" or there should be a "right" to just about anything.  I have said before that true rights do not obligate others without their consent. God (that's Nature, to you pagans, philosophical naturalists, etc.) has given us many rights. The government does not give us rights. It is supposed to protect our rights from those who would infringe upon them by force or fraud. The Constitution does not give us our rights. It lists some of our rights, but it also says that we retain all rights and powers not specifically given over to the government in the Constitution.

There can be a difference between a right and a freedom.  Not everything that we have the freedom to do is a right. For example, we can run through an open field because it is open. We can have that freedom.  But if that field is owned by someone else, we do not have a right to run through it. If that owner decides to fence off the property, our freedom to run across it is gone, but we have not lost any right. I have the freedom to order a pizza from Domino's. But if they decide not to sell pizzas anymore, I can't say that they've taken away my right. What would be a violation of my rights would be if the federal government told me I could not freely exchange something I had for a pizza being offered freely for trade by Domino's.

So the next time you see someone claiming that their "right" will be taken away, think about whether what they are talking about is really a right or if it has been a freedom they've enjoyed.