Archbishop Timothy Dolan on Life and Liberty



Our Life, Our Liberty

By Cardinal-Designate Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York

A few weeks ago, I spoke at a forum organized by Fordham Law School’s Institute on Religion, Law & Lawyer’s Work.

Here is an excerpt of the remarks that I made:

Natural Law is a concept of objective truth, known by anyone with the power of reason — a truth not relativized by the special interest of religious preference, class, gender or individual bias. “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”

It is a question of endowments that are intrinsic to us by the very fact of being human. And thus the rights appropriate to us are “inalienable.” They cannot be taken away by any state or power or law or choice of individuals.

And what specifically cannot be taken away? Our life, our liberty. No human institution or individual has given us these rights. They have been given by us by God.

This is what Frederick Douglass knew. This is what Gandhi knew. This is what Martin Luther King, Jr. knew.

You can read my whole speech here.
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