By Makia Freeman
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World
We all have inherent rights, no matter whether the governing authority of a particular geographical area recognizes it or whether it has been written down on a piece of paper as law. People from different societies and cultures call these rights slightly different things.
In the USA, they have been referred to as “unalienable rights” ever since the 1776 Declaration of Independence. Some call them natural rights to distinguish them from state-granted rights (which are not really rights but rather privileges). Others simply call them human rights.
From a more religious perspective they are called God-given rights. Those who are uncomfortable with the loaded term “God” (because of all the connotations it carries) may prefer intrinsic rights or inherent rights. But, whatever you call them, they are a universal concept. They are a natural extension of ourselves with which we are born, and which we possess just by virtue of being human.
