> When humanity is the ultimate authority and life is finite, rights become of paramount importance.
No, they don't. Sure, some people articulate this kind of reasoning, other people start from the same premise and get to nihilism and might makes right.
Of course, some people get from the idea of a divine law to rights, divinely ordained, having paramount importance, and others work from the same start to the idea that material success is a sign of divine selection, so whatever you do to succeed -- as long as it works -- is clearly divinely backed.
What I really think it is is that people's views on the importance of rights and people's religiosity or areligiosity are usually formed independently (though perhaps from some common influences), but the former will tend to get rationalized as a consequence of the latter, whether or not there is any real relationship.
In my estimation, some people have simply not followed this line of reasoning to the logical conclusion....
A person may conceive there is no god and set themselves up as god. Or they may simply substitute something else for a god. But at this point, they simply have puffed up something into something it is not or they don't take a realistic view of where and what they are.
But be that as it may, the idea that religion provides absolutes becomes rather laughable looking around at the dogmas and and sheer number of them.
No, they don't. Sure, some people articulate this kind of reasoning, other people start from the same premise and get to nihilism and might makes right.
Of course, some people get from the idea of a divine law to rights, divinely ordained, having paramount importance, and others work from the same start to the idea that material success is a sign of divine selection, so whatever you do to succeed -- as long as it works -- is clearly divinely backed.
What I really think it is is that people's views on the importance of rights and people's religiosity or areligiosity are usually formed independently (though perhaps from some common influences), but the former will tend to get rationalized as a consequence of the latter, whether or not there is any real relationship.