Are our rights God-given?

There is an idea that our rights and freedoms are God-given, and human law can only recognize what is -- essentially -- natural law.

But I don't think God gives rights and freedoms in the way we understand them today. This is a key difference between Christianity and "Americanity."

Freedom in the Old Testament is associated with -- and diametrically opposed to -- slavery. I think the best illustration is in Jeremiah 34:17.

“Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you, declares the Lord—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth." [Source]

Most of the Law was dedicated to how the Hebrews should function as a community -- a lot of emphasis on people's obligations to each other. There's very little emphasis anyone's freedoms.

In the New Testament, the notion of freedom to do whatever you want is recognized, but discouraged -- again, the emphasis is on the community.

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." -Galatians 5:13 [Source]

And the notion of rights in the New Testament is very different than our understanding of them in America today. In America, we have an inherent right to self-defense. In the Bible, the idea of defending your rights -- even your right to property -- is a secondary consideration. I look at 1 Corinthians 6:7.

"The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?" [Source]

My conclusion is that -- like the way we perverted and institutionalized slavery in the past to mean something very different than was in the Bible -- so also we also apply the terms "rights" and "freedoms" in the present very differently from the way God applies them.

I agree that soldiers are tasked with protecting against external threats, and civilians against internal ones. Unfortunately, we've seen post-9/11 how fear can lead to a willing curtailment of freedoms for the sake of an imagined security, and in COVID-19 how people will forego their obligations to the community for the sake of their own perceived self-interest.