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Originally Posted by dksuddeth
how are rights contingent?
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Well while it's fun to pretend that rights are "inalienable", that's a fantasy. The only right that's inalienable is the right you can successfully defend.
As for contingent, that's simple. I'll address this in two ways:
1) A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. If it's not necessary for the security of a free state, then the whole thing falls apart (as Martian basically pointed out). The justification justifies the operative. Without the justification, the operative becomes meaningless.
2) Rights in the BOR all have limits. Shouting fire in a crowded room, religious ritual killings, and fines for printing libel are all limits on freedoms of speech, religion, and press. They're all legal, too.