Group vs. Individual Freedoms – The Courts
There are situations where individual freedoms conflict with group freedoms and we have to adjudicate the outcome. Do pro-life protestors have the right to protest in front of abortion clinics, even when it mentally harms the individual wishing to have an abortion? Are homeless tents ok on the street where individual shop owners are trying to attract customers into their bodegas? Is it acceptable to extract taxes from individuals so we can have a government established to protect the country? Are borders, intended to establish the country’s consensus on who has a legal right to enter, acceptable over the rights of persecuted and underprivileged immigrants attempting entry? The list is broad and wide on the conflict between individual and national freedoms and rights. Does Freedom of Religion Outweigh Discrimination in the Marketplace? The answers are not so easily apparent in a sin-cursed world. That is why we have courts to attempt to balance the needs of the individual and the rights of the many. It’s a poor, human system but, it’s the best we’ve got before Christ’s return.