My interpretation of the rights granted by the Constitutions of various countries is that you have those rights primarily against the government, and only secon

My interpretation of the rights granted by the Constitutions of various countries is that you have those rights primarily against the government, and only secondarily against other people or institutions. In other words, the government cannot force you to have certain beliefs, or silence you, or throw you in jail arbitrarily. I say this thinking of the US Constitution, which was written in a time when kings actually did many of these things. Applied to modern times, the police first have an obligation to not attack you for your beliefs. That doesn't make them your slaves. After that, they'll defend your beliefs if there's a law forcing them to (which is a positive law).