Human rights do not have adequate justification under a secular government.

My opponent claims that there are really no rights as we claim, just desires, because no basis for unalienable rights can be made from a secular view of the world. This is consistent with my argument that secular government cannot guarantee rights, since from a secular standpoint, rights don't really exist. If God doesn't exist or doesn't matter, the highest authority to secure your desires (which you claim are rights) would be a human party with influence. A majority, influential minority, or powerful individual could suffice. But once you have convinced enough people, enough of the right people, or the right person (possibly even one's self), to stand up effectively for your “right,” you only have that right until someone else usurps the minds of those who you convinced or controlled. The next election, or a new popular ideology could quickly destroy your so-called right. Hardly inalienable. My opponent is applying a very modern philosophy in response to my argument that only God can secure inalienable rights. He sweeps aside the fact that I am using a specific God, and responds, “Religion is Not the Answer.” I think this is not malicious, but only natural since the philosophy he's using probably lumps most religions into the same category. I agree that religion is not the answer. I'm not sure my opponent actually came out and said it yet, so I would like to ask: Do you agree that to secure a claimed right, one needs authority, whether it be convincing a majority of your society, or the right person(s) asserting that you have that right? I've just shown that human authority is not enough to guarantee rights, and my opponent just argued that a government with a secular view couldn't even logically say that inalienable rights exist. So I would like my opponent and any spectators to hypothesize for the sake of argument: In a universe where a God like that of the Bible existed, who was immortal and unchanging, could true inalienable rights exist? I argue yes. He would have sufficient authority to claim those rights for us, and they would be given inalienability by his immortality and immutability. Rebuttals to other specific points my opponent made: “The nexus between desire and rights is very complicate. Naturally we want to believe we have a right to that which we desire.” It's not so complicated in a universe where God exists, because regardless of our desires, he already established our rights. A God would allow an orderly, fixed set of rights not molestable by man. But my opponent is correct in demonstrating how those rights are violated all the time. Does this God have no authority to guarantee the rights of his creation? The question is normally worded, “If God's so good, why do bad things happen to innocent people?” God is so good that he's perfect, and in his perfect eyes no one is innocent before him. I might not think I'm that bad, but “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” James 2:10 One moment of envy, one moment of lust, is all it takes to be guilty. God's immortality ensures everyone who has violated another's rights will someday be judged, and all those put in positions of power will be held responsible for not protecting the rights of their charges. Judgement is sometimes reserved from this life, and left to a later time so that those that are not turning to God will turn to him. Galatians 3:24 and Romans 7:7-14 “Equality and liberty, for examples, are virtually non-existed until the founding of America.” This statement, as well as the claim that “...democratic government is the evolutionary end of all governmental systems.” may stem from the trend in the last few centuries of the decline of the number of monarchies, and the rise in the number of claimed and actual democracies and republics. However, actual democracies are short lived, and very unstable. They can evolve from other forms of government, but most often result in anarchy or oligarchy. (1) We can see specific examples of Liberty and Equality being upheld in ancient society as rights in secular, pagan, and God fearing societies going back thousands of years. Rome: 200 B.C.-300 A.D. You can see very detailed accounts of trials and rights given to Roman citizens as recorded the in Bible: Acts 16:35-17, 18:12-16, and 22:22-29, (and pretty much from there to the end of the book.) Ancient Israel: 1500 B.C Equality is integral to the Jewish Law: Deuteronomy 18:18-20, 19:15-21, Leviticus 19:15 http://www.youtube.com... I'm not too savvy with hyperlinks. Here's http://www.biblegateway.com... to look up all the Bible references.