“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights….”
-Thomas Jefferson, United States Declaration of Independence
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote ruled that detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility have the right to challenge their detention in federal court. In a dissent authored by Justice Antonin Scalia, the minority stated that the “nation will live to regret what the court has done today.”
The subject of the rights of military detainees has been a political hot-topic for some time now. The rights of illegal immigrants have also come up in different contexts. This idea of the rights of Americans versus the rights of everyone else in the world is one I find personally challenging. Do I really believe that all men are created equal and have certain rights that are given to them, not by other men, but by God Himself? If so, what are those rights?
I have to think that rights like due diligence of the law and medical care are rights that, if given to one, must be given to all. If the U.S. is going to stand by these beliefs, we should be fighting to give these rights to everyone we can. Obviously our government cannot provide these rights to citizens of other countries, people who are under the authority of foreign governments. But once they are on our soil or in our custody - once they are in our care, for whatever reason - who are we to say that these rights still don’t apply to them? If we provide the right of a trial by jury to a criminal in Omaha, why do I not have to provide that same right to an alleged enemy combatant captured in Iraq? If I have to provide basic medical care to the homeless American citizen, how can I then deny it to a Mexican immigrant, just because he’s a Mexican immigrant? Where does it say that a person’s nationality, or actions, or belief system, determines whether their Creator endowed them with His unalienable Rights?
It’s not an easy concept. But I believe that everyone has basic rights, and that Man is not wise enough to determine who should and should not have access to those rights. Those detainees deserve a trial by jury, not because they’re guaranteed it in any constitutional sense, but because they’re human beings, and all human beings deserve a fair shot at proving their innocence, even the terrorists. The illegal immigrant deserves basic medical care, not because my Congressmen voted a certain way, but because the immigrant is a human being, and we are charged with caring for our fellow human beings.
I know I’m being naïve in some of my statements. The issues of how we provide social services to millions of illegal immigrants or how we maintain our security while providing fair treatment are not simple to solve. But it’s not enough to just say we won’t do it. We can’t say that. Those Rights are unalienable for a reason.
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13 comments:
I don't think that it is a matter of rights on some things. From someone who can barely afford insurance and cannot even get a quality insurance plan, it is hard for me. I got turned down at a medical facility in Austin (Durning Hurricane Rita) because I didn't have the right insurance, yet many illegal immagrents are getting attention just fine. They are having child after child after child (that we are paying for) and I cannot even afford to adopt and have children of my own. We are paying for this. These people are taking jobs from people who are apart of this country, and I have seen the damage it has caused as a result. The money that the illegals have made isn't even being put back into our economy - it is going back to Mexico (for example). I have seen good carpenters lose jobs because they cannot compete with someone who has no overhead at all. I have on the other hand had friends that came legally to this country and made a name for themselves. Why do we have to give up everything for those who haven't. People have been coming to this country legally for a long time - they cannot say that we are just unfair because they are illegal. There are ways into this country legally. The matter is the fact that they are illegal. I have a problem when I am paying for school, taxes, medical expenses and everything else at the cost of my own family. They have none of this. Where does it all end? Medical expenses are one thing, but everything else is another. I have no problem giving attention to people who need it, but we also have to do what is best for our country and our families to protect them. It is the governments responiblity to make sure this country is protected for our people and to make the Laws to keep the order of things.
I think that the problem is that we think that rights are a privalige and not a responsibility. I don't see the harm in giving medical attention to those who need it. I don't see the harm in giving someone a fair trial. But there is a limit to what we can do. I think that, like you said, maybe there is more to it than that. The governments job is to try to figure out what is best for the country as a whole.
Some of the reason that some of these people are in the situation that they are, is because or their government. When the cyclone hit recently , they didn't want any outside help, just as one example. Governments don't even let food get to the people that need it. This world is just not a perfect scenario. All the sudden it is America's responsiblity to help and they hate us for it. When you say yes to someone you are as a result saying no to someone else. If we say yes - then who are we saying no to. When I look at this being in the business that I am - many times I am saying yes to someone else at the expense of my own. I don't know what the solution is, but I have seen some of the result.
I agree every human has rights. Do those rights include the rights given to us by our country? I don't know.
God gave us the right to live, breath and make decisions. Our government has given us extra rights like health care and education as a result of the ability to make decisions. Does that mean that just because I am an American I deserve these rights more than a person born about 400 miles away and just happens to be on the other side of a man made border? No, but I also don't expect my government to be magical and give these rights to every person in the world. Americans have a bad reputation because we think we are right and what we do is better. Maybe we are better than some, and we have ways that people can come into our country to seek shelter from an oppressive nation or government that does not give them their basic human rights. We can't shelter everyone and just because the grass is green on the American side of the fence does not give someone the right to just take what is not theirs. I would not go into your yard to eat from your garden if mine was sickly but still could feed me. I am beginning to babble now so I hope you understand my point.
:)
Re Guantanamo--this would not have become an issue if our government had offered some modicum of justice to the detainees there. If another country held our citizens--including juveniles--in completely dehumanizing conditions-without charging them with any crime, we would be bombing them right about now (or five years ago.) The government has had more than six years to do the right thing. (And yes, the right thing might have been something less than what the Supreme Court is mandating but it was certainly more than what they did.) It's shameful that the Supreme Court had to force it. In my humble opinion . . . : )
BTW, monk, I think you've done it now!
I disagree with T. Other countries are cutting off our heads and not giving the detainees good times. Mexico you have to bribe the police to even get out of jail. We assume that they are well taken care of but what do we really know. I am not saying that we should treat anyone wrong but at the same time we should be careful of what we say that other countries are doing. We should set the standard, but still treat them like prisoners - because that is what they are. I don't know the solution but I would be careful of the media hype!
Forgive an intrusion from a stranger - you can read about me on my own blog I suppose. I stumbled across your blog a bit ago because you mocked the same bumper sticker that I was at the time. But I enjoy your thoughts.
While I am no legal scholar, the thing that bugs me about many of the issues discussed in your post and comments is that the rights that are afforded to us by our founding documents is that are purported to be inalienable rights, or at least it is my impression. They are not privileges afforded to us by our government, they are common to all humans, and it is simply that we are fortunate enough to have a government that attempts to preserve them for us. The ethnocentrism of our foreign policy bothers me for this very reason; our Constitution legally only protects us and not citizens of other countries, but surely the Founders would have agreed that foreigners in theory share those same rights? I would think that line of thinking should show up prominently in our policies, but it doesn't.
Whether health care is a right, I highly doubt. I also believe we should have universal healthcare. If we have the capacity to care for people, we SHOULD. But I think it is a distinctly American (or Western?) idea that we have a right to health, a right to the preservation of our status quo. This is why I am angry at God when there are natural disasters - we have a right for there to NOT be disaster. But world events would suggest otherwise, an idea which I struggle to reconcile in my mind.
Anyhow, sorry for the intrusion. I appreciate that you make me think, I hope you don't mind my perusing your thoughts ...
Thanks for your comments, Mike. I always enjoying having comments from outside my little circle of friends. Your point about the universalism of rights is interesting. In my mind, the statement "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal..." has two interesting points: first, that it applies to everyone, not just to the ones governed by the precepts of the document; and second, the the truth is self-evident. It's not true because Jefferson wrote it down, it's true regardless of whether we even acknowledge its truth.
Hi, Scooter! Say hi to your sweet wife for us.
Honestly, I can't think of a single incident in recent history in which the government of another country beheaded an American citizen. I can't imagine that it happened and went unnoticed by our media. Fox News alone would have gone berserk. And if you are imprisoned in Mexico, you have access to the American consulate as well as US treaties with Mexico to protect you. (The local government may ignore the law but the law does exist for your protection.) I'm not sure I would have given the prisoners at Guantanomo the level of legal rights that the Supreme Court just did (not being a student of constitutional law, it's hard for me to know and I definitely find the idea of "inalienable" rights to be compelling--thanks Mike!) but I strongly believe that what we were doing before this weekend (holding detainees indefinitely without charges and without access to face-to-face legal representation) was unconscionable.
I guess you are right T. I really don't know that much about alot of that, but I still wonder if Americans really have it better in prison of some other country. I have never been in that position to know exactly. Either way holding prisoners without charge is a little extreme in any event.
Mike
You finished out your statement with something that I wonder about. You said that,
"This is why I am angry at God when there are natural disasters - we have a right for there to NOT be disaster. But world events would suggest otherwise, an idea which I struggle to reconcile in my mind."
I wonder, "do we really have the right to not have natural disasters?" Hardships in life often times bring out the best in people. I cannot say that I always understand but I do believe God cares, even in the midst of it. People have struggled with this for many centuries. It is quite natural for people to get mad at God for some reason or another, but I do believe there is explanation for it. We may not always understand why, but there is a reason. For instance, I read that if the world wasn't made just the way that it is, then we wouldn't be able to survive on it anyway. Shifts in plates of land, wind, climate, all this has its purpose. Sometimes it is the choices that we make that cause us to blame God. In reality, God created a perfect world but we brought evil into it, causing it to break. I heard it once said that it is like getting a toy when you are young. You play with it and eventually it gets broke. Then someone fixes it but it doesn't work quite as well as it did when it was first made. This is over simplication but it does have merit. I couldn't explain all the different theories on a subject this big in one little blog, but I do want you to realize that everything happens for a reason - even when we don't want it to. That is why that hope is so important to us. The hope of something different, something better. That is what the Christain faith is all about, giving hope to the down hearted. Christ came to take away the punishment that is due to us because of the evil in our hearts. I pray that you will find what you are looking for, and if you want, "Ask God and maybe, He will give you the answer you are looking for."
So Scooter, based on what you said, what's the difference between something not happening for a reason, and something happening for a reason but us not understanding what that reason is? Just saying "God has a reason even if we don't know what it is" doesn't really make me feel any better than just saying "God doesn't have a reason."
It is hard for me to imagine health care being an inalienable right. It was certainly not what Jefferson had in mind, eh? I think there is a difference between positive rights -- rights that require others to give you something for you to have the right (e.g., right to work, right to eat, right to have health care)-- and negative rights -- rights that just require people to not do things to you (e.g., a right to liberty just requires no one takes away your liberty). Due process of law seems to be a negative right because it is highly related to liberty. People in Gitmo have a right not to have the government restrain their actions without just cause (i.e., a right to liberty), and due process ensures that right. That said, I guess what we really need to know if whether military courts, as opposed to federal courts, can provide due process to people at Gitmo.
On the other hand, health care seems different than due process to me because it requires someone else to do something -- either by being forced to provide the care or being forced to pay for it. Maybe there should be health care for everyone, but I don't think that necessarily follows from the fact there should be due process for everyone.
On the other topic (the question to Scooter), I'd much rather know that God had an undisclosed reason for some bad thing. If you know that, you know that the bad thing will produce a net positive result.
Sorry, last comment. I thought this blog post from a Harvard Law Prof struggling with cancer was excellent re: why God was causing him to suffer. http://www.law.upenn.edu/blogs/dskeel/archives/2008/04/more_cancerstuntz.html#more
I think that Jim answered it well. It doesn't matter if we understand the reason or not, as long as we understand that there is a reason.
I am not a Doctor, I cannot do brain Surgery - but I do know that the Doctor does and I should be willing to let him do it as an expert in his field. I don't see God as being any different than this situation. He is God, I may not understand everything he does, but He does it as who He is - God!
The Problem is that we think that we need an answer, unfortunately He doesn't always give us one. Job never got a formal answer, and neither did Habakkuk. We just have to understand that He is in control and He knows what is best for everyone. We may never see the good that will come of it, but we can be asured that He will.
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