If such a proposition is seriously considered, it becomes quickly evident then, that any law which promotes ideas and morality which originated with Christian groups must be interpreted as a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The concepts of human rights and the dignity of the individual were conceived exclusively within Christian Europe. Although applied heavily to politics by British and French philosophers of the 17 th and 18 th centuries, such ideas originated even earlier with Jesuit and Dominican scholastics who wrote often of the primacy of the human individual in natural law. Men like Juan de Mariana and John Locke were religious men who simply pointed out that God s natural law is superior to the law of man. Without this basic premise there can be no comprehension of human rights as anything more than favors granted by a governmental body.
Human rights are a concept which grew out of medieval Christian Europe.
They are a moral concept born of a religious morality. The idea that religion is an entity which exists separate from government is a product of Christian civilization as well. The idea of divine rulers was abhorrent to the ancient Jews and their offspring, the Christians, adopted a similar attitude. Prior to the rise of Christianity, religion was seen as one and the same with the state. Oriental monarchies of the East frequently deified their rulers and attributed godlike powers and knowledge to royal persons.