Rights or Responsibilities?

[Keith Broaders]

I contend that human beings were not born with rights, but with the responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect. We must never intentionally harm anyone or compel them to do what we want them to do. We are free to do anything we wish as long as our action do not  harm or injure anyone in the process.

When we compel others to respect our rights by threatening them with violence, we light the fuse that will ultimately lead to armed conflict. Instead of demanding that our rights be observed we should seek to honor and respect our neighbor and treat them ethically.

When we refuse to harm others and seek to treat everyone fairly we can create an ethical society. When we seek to get what we want by taking it from others we create a hostile world.

Peace, prosperity and freedom result when individuals are focused on the ethical treatment of others. When we focus on enriching ourselves at the expense of others we promote poverty, war and slavery.

We should not seek to gain political or financial advantages at the expense of others. We need to treat others ethically never intentional initiate force against another human being unless we are acting in self defense.

The reason why the world is in constant conflict is because everyone is out to get what they want, rather than of giving others the things that they need.