RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES THE DIFFERENCE

True freedom means you choose the life you think you must lead.  To protect this right of freedom you need to have your rights protected and these rights include the right to be educated and looked after and to have enough food etc.  You have the right to have privileges but there is no entitlement to any particular privilege.  Rights are about you as a person not as a child of God or a religious person.  You are you.  You are not your belief in God and  you are not your religion.

Is the truth your right or privilege

People believe you have the privilege not the right to get the truth.  That view is stupid.  The truth is a right.  While there is some truth you do not have a right to you have the right to enough truth to live a sensible life.

To say the truth is a privilege weakens people's resolve to help you get the truth.  It will lead to them "protecting" you from the truth they think you should not know.  Governments and religions have always wanted to censor and that only encourages them.

The truth is more of a right to you than your right to food for if it is not true you have a right to food then you have no right.

You do not have a privilege as a right but you have the right, within reason, to have privileges.  If truth were a privilege it would be a privilege you must be granted and allowed.  It is not like somebody denying you a fancy car on the basis that it is a mere privilege.

Rights and Privileges

Rights are based on needs. Needs are essential so not getting your rights means you are enduring an injustice. For example, if the state does not feed the poor who need it then the state is treating the poor unjustly. The law of the land is about promoting rights as far as possible. There are real rights and there are legal rights. For example, the need for shelter is a real right. You cannot live without shelter. The law might decree that you have a right to a car if you are over 21. That is only a legal right. It is a right under law. But it is not a real right for you can live without a car. It is really a privilege that the law treats as a right.

Rights get tricky. You can live without getting married so marriage is not a right. But you get the right if other people are allowed to marry and you are not. This is not a right to marriage but a right to equal treatment.
 
A privilege is a non-essential good thing you are given or that you get. For example, you have the right to a nutritious diet. If the nation was malnourished the state would have to provide free multivitamins containing the essential vitamins and minerals. That would be giving the nation its rights. But for the state to go as far as getting free blueberries and other superfoods delivered to every person every day would be beyond that. In that case, they would be getting more than what they need or getting what they need in an extravagant way.

Getting what is good but not necessary is a privilege.

Is Freedom of Religion a right?

Freedom of religious belief is accepted by all reasonable people. Some make the mistake of confusing this freedom with a right to freedom. Even if there is such a right, freedom of religious behaviour however is not an absolute right. You may believe whatever you want but you cannot do exactly everything you want.

A religion is a system made up of people. But it is not the people.

Freedom of belief in religious matters or other matters is a right. This is not the same thing as freedom of religion. Freedom of religious belief does not mean a religion should be allowed to sacrifice virgins or urge its members to have sex in public in front of children.

Freedom of religion cannot allow a religion to teach, "All the good you do, don't do it for the person but do it all for God." This forbids the teaching of Christianity that we must love God entirely and value him totally while we only value ourselves for his sake which is not valuing us in ourselves and is degrading. Strictly speaking, secularism then advocates freedom of belief not freedom of religion for religion is a system not people.  That is what we secularists mean by freedom of religion.

Freedom of belief, religious and otherwise, is not a right. We cannot stop having beliefs and changing them. Whether the state respects our beliefs or not, the fact remains we are going to have minds of our own no matter what. It is stupid to say you have a right to think what you like. It is like saying you have a right to white skin when you have it anyway.

Some faiths do not claim religious freedom as a right. If God is all that matters, it follows that the religion cannot seek religious freedom as it is the right of its members. It can only seek it for God.

Is religious freedom a right or an exemption?

The Roman Catholic Church officially teaches that the freedom to practise your religion and to live as your religion commands is a fundamental and basic human right. The Church declares that the state must legally protect this right. It complains that in many countries, the freedom to practise your religion is granted not as a basic right but as a mere exemption.

It is not a basic and fundamental human right. The Church demeans us by saying that it is. It is virtually telling us to feel inferior and degraded if we don't have a religion! You cannot need religion like you need food or love. So it is not a basic human right.

Religion is a privilege not a right. If you are free to practice your religion, does it really matter if the state sees this as a basic right or an exemption? And the fact of the matter is it is not a basic right. Cavemen lived and survived without today's religions.

Last

If the state or system does not regard your dignity as important and gives you bread that is not it serving your rights. Cherrypicked rights that are given to you are not rights at all. Selective justice is not justice but injustice. Period. Don't confuse a gift or privilege from the state with a right!