Reply #205: What an individual believes is not relevant when lobbying society for welfare. You use the phrase

[jody]

"moral issue" but what is and is not moral is not clear, see Natural right.

I'm not sure there is agreement that welfare is a "moral right" or a privilege granted by either some ruler, e.g. king or dictator, or society's elected government.

I'm fascinated by the writings of the great philosophers on the issue of rights and it must have been a hot topic in the 16th to 18th centuries leading up to our Bill of Rights.

There are many who believe all basic rights are given by God or other divine being.

In other countries, e.g. England, society believes that every right is given by a central government.

In the U.S. without arguing about the source, sovereign states declared certain rights were natural, inherent, inalienable/unalienable before they joined the United States and ratified the Bill of Rights.

I've read state constitutions and I don't recall a single instance where welfare was identified as a natural, inherent, inalienable/unalienable right.