Is the State the Source of Human Rights?

Human rights is a very discussed topic; it is discussed when individuals talk about foreign countries who go completely against the idea of human rights. Or maybe one may talk about it when discussing the past. In general, I have heard the discussion of human rights many times, by individuals of all ages; but where do we get this source of human rights from? Is the state the source of human rights?

Some will say that the state is the source of human rights, that if the government is an oppressive one, the lower the rights of the people. This is actually true in many instances, look for example at the Soviet Union, but I wouldn’t call this a source of human rights. The state can restrict the rights of the people but that does not mean that they are the exact source of human rights, which is why I believe that the state is not the source of human rights.

But what is the actual source of human rights? Well, I am a Christian and I believe that God is the source of human rights. Yes, I mean the rights that we all as humans are entitled to(property rights, religious freedom, etc). Yes, these rights can be restricted by the state but that does not mean that we as humans are not entitled to these rights and that the state is the source of these rights. Just because something is capable of restricting something does not mean that they are the source of the thing that they are restricting. 

In conclusion, these days it especially seems that the state is the source of human rights, with governments around the world being able to restrict the basics of human rights(property rights, religious freedom, etc), but in actuality the source of human rights is from the Creator of all things, God.