The way I see it, it is religion that leads to individual rights violations.. the religious concept that ‘every man is his brother’s keeper’ is the religious justification for armed extortion by the State (taxes).
Man should act morally and do no harm to others because LIFE is the standard–not some imaginary “god”. Imagine how awful a world where everyone is evil and only behave because they are afraid that ‘god’ will punish them? How about behaving morally because it is the ONLY way to live life to the fullest capacity. A moral man helps his brother–not out of fear of ‘god’ but out of valuing his relationship with his brother (I mean the term ‘brother’ generically). Do NOT do unto others what you would NOT want done unto you, is my motto.
We are moral because it is in our long term best interest to do so. The barbarian dies by his own sword. The civil man thrives and builds a metropolis.
