Natural rights rest on divine ownership, not individual autonomy

Evidence

For Locke, because we are bound by natural law, our natural liberty is not licence, a freedom to do whatever we wish. The point of a free state is not to liberate us to follow our whims and desires, but to provide us with a secure arena within which to strive to perfect ourselves within the mould of God’s making. Because we are God’s creatures, there are strict limits on our freedom. In particular, nobody is free to take their own life, because that violates God’s creation of us. We are God’s property, and property should not be violated. Locke’s ‘suicide taboo’ shows the distance between his Christian natural jurisprudence and modern secular libertarian values. — , Second Treatise of Government and A…, 27

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that Lockean liberty is bounded by natural law rather than licence, and that self-ownership is really God’s ownership delegated.
• SEED: Angle: the libertarian appropriation of Locke is parasitic on a theology that forbids suicide, so the modern reading is a Frankenstein.
• XREF: connects to: Popular sovereignty in the Declaration rested on nature’s laws and nature’s God — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 210; British monarchical rule rested on a claimed divine right; Human equality rests on common divine origin, not natural sameness. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 594 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Human equality rests on common divine origin, not natural sameness. #expands (0.95) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 594
• Divine predestination does not absolve individuals of moral responsibility #complicates (0.85)
• The Rights of Man were grounded in a supposed human nature rather than history #complicates (0.80) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 728