Originally Posted by Dom1

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights

Inalienable rights, by definition, are not granted by the state - no human grants these rights. They are rights which no state has the power to confer because being human entitles you to these rights.

Again, you can agree or disagree, but some of the Founders did say that these inalienable rights were granted by a higher power. Since inalienable rights by definition cannot be granted by the state (only protected), they could not come from the state. I suppose the argument could be made that the protection of these rights is the same as granting them, but it is just semantics.

I am not agreeing with them that God or some other higher power is actually granting these rights, but that many of the Founders did indeed say this. I am also stating that inalienable rights are not granted by the state.