"...Nature and Nature's God....."

That appeal, found in the Declaration, is critical to the current turn of political fortunes away from the Ruling Class and towards the Country Class--as phrased by Angelo Codevilla back in 2010.  And as you might suspect, that "nature" word has significance.  But what you might NOT suspect is that the concept behind it is *cough* Catholic, not Lockean, nor Paine-ian, nor Aristotelian.

But that's OK, Protty pals:  we'll share.

This linked essay about all that was written by a full professor at Macalester College, a small-but-elite Midwestern (Twin Cities) school.  (I know this because a girlfriend attended the school, graduated, and picked up her MA from Brown later on.)  The essay may make 'Old Yeller Levin' apoplectic, as he is a serious anti-Catholic--but that doesn't change the truth of it.  Even more shocking to the conscience of the "Modern Project" people, it all began during the 'dark ages' (which were NOT dark). 

Anyhow, here's the concluding graf:

...The idea of natural rights, then, was decidedly not a modern invention, but rather a medieval one. It was perpetuated and elaborated as Catholic jurists grappled with various crises and contingencies from the twelfth century onward. And, as with natural rights, so too with many of the other ideas and institutions that define American democracy. Whether the specific issue is consent of the governed, limited government, rule of law, constitutionalism, or even separation of church and state, the historic roots can be traced, not to the early modern era, but to the Middle Ages. Moreover, these roots were neither capitalist, nor liberal, nor secular. Rather, the origins of these ideas and institutions are to be found primarily in Roman law and in the canon law and theology of the Roman Catholic Church.

Right to life?  Right to property?  Right to self-defense?  Yup.  No matter the race, by the way....contra the white-ish theorizers with their IQ-test measuring sticks. 

Of course, in fully-developed rights theory, there are corresponding obligations, such as the obligation to work, to support one's children, to be honest, to use sexual faculties as designed.....many of which are deliberately ignored by the "rights" bunch because, frankly, they prefer the anarchy of immorality, laziness, or pleasure.  

Finally, one does not have to be Catholic to understand and embrace natural law/rights.  Clear-eyed, honest observation of 'what IS' is the only requirement.

But who likes that kinda stuff, eh?