Dilemma of conflicting 'rights'

No community should violate the freedoms of a minority

- by GRAHAM WOOD

RIGHTS come in all shapes and sizes, ancient and modern, from civil to gay to trans, and many more.

Most are genuine searches to remedy a grievance; but where do our rights come from and who defines them?

Are they graciously bestowed gifts from governments or international organisations or other unelected bodies?

Such basic questions have engaged the minds of philosophers, theorists and lawmakers from the earliest times up to the present.

Discussions about rights can historically be likened to a vast river flowing through human history, sometimes placid and serene, other times like a raging torrent uprooting all traditional, and once accepted, concepts in its path.

Frequently we hear today many who will parrot the claim to justify a belief or course of action: “It’s my right.”

The phrase is often uttered unconsciously of precedent, or of definition – it’s just an assertion.

How do we begin to define rights, let alone any distinction between competing claims of, say, the perceived right of the individual as opposed to that of a government power; or that of some individual or small protest group against powerful corporate commercial interests?

How is it that human beings have any rights?

Who, if any, have assumed rights over God-given natural resources such as land, water, forests, air etc? Many largely unanswered questions continue to arise in these areas, both theoretical and practical, as to who owns the rights concerned. Who is qualified to make decisions is not always clear.

What of property rights? Some Christian thinkers believe that the Bible takes private property rights for granted, condemning infringements such as theft or fraud, while Augustine concluded that possession of private property was a human right.