[governance] Civil & Political Entitlements, and a Declaration of

[Paul Lehto]

I agree with Milton Mueller "that a religious grounding for rights" is
not required.  That is why I specifically alluded to Jefferson's
democracy "tent" including both atheists and theists through the use
of his phrase "Nature and Nature's God" in the Declaration of
Independence.  It was, and is, an unusual formulation, but
deliberately so, so that we could have respectful interface (as Eric
Dierker just put it) between both the religious and the agnostic or
atheist (as the case may be).

I believe that we concur, if not agree, on the inclusion of all
regardless of their position on matters of spirituality, so we need
not debate that on this list.  However, the nature of governance and
the source of rights is the very foundation of governance, so a strong
argument could be made for list relevance.  But again, the way it is
formulated, with twin alternatives to satisfy everyone, means that it
need not be discussed, so we reach the same result regardless.

By selecting the one part that you agree with, does Milton Mueller
mean to suggest that he disagrees with or is unsure of the parts
concerning transparency and accountability (which are two sides of the
same coin)?  I was not sure.

Paul Lehto, Juris Doctor

On 8/17/09, Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:
> I agree with this part of your statement. I do not think that a religious
> grounding for rights is required, however. We should not get into that here,
> it's outside the scope of this list.
>
>> Obviously, the only time anyone really needs a right is to do
>> something somebody else doesn't want them to do -- or even that a
>> majority doesn't want them to do, like speak to an unpopular issue.
>
>> [snip]
>> If you follow what I'm saying above, and wish to resist tyranny of the
>> majority as well as governmental tyranny and the tyranny of any other
>> large concentration of power, then there must be a conception of
>> rights that is beyond the ability of the majority, the government or
>> any other power to legitimately alter or control.   Thus, such rights,
>> while they can be violated, even violated for a very long time and
>> egregiously so, NEVER go away or get waived.  They just get violated.
>
>
> Milton Mueller
> Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies
> XS4All Professor, Delft University of Technology
> ------------------------------
> Internet Governance Project:
> http://internetgovernance.org
>
>


-- 
Paul R Lehto, J.D.
P.O. Box #1
Ishpeming, MI  49849
lehto.paul at gmail.com
906-204-2333
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