.
Oh, indeed. But (whew) only because they aren’t really vampires after all.
--
“I can’t think why she wants to live here,” said Miss Carstairs-Carew; “we do not visit her.”’

“Perhaps that’s why she wants to live there,” said Father Brown.

“Well, her seclusion is considered suspicious. She annoys them by being good-looking and even what is called good style. And all the young men are warned against her as a vamp.”

“People who lose all their charity generally lose all their logic,’ remarked Father Brown. “It’s rather ridiculous to complain that she keeps to herself; and then accuse her of vamping the whole male population.”

--“The Vampire of the Village”, G.K. Chesterton


P.S. Echoing SBK: “this comment is dedicated to LeeQuod” (and clearly, Gina, too, but for other, more obvious and – dare I say -- “apposite” reasons), who, once again (referring to LeeQuod) has been AWOL far too long.

Signed,
You know you have too much time on your hands. . . .

Excuse me. I meant a vampire does not have the right to NOT have a stake pounded through it's heart.

1. vampires are damned souls that serve part of their sentence on Earth for some reason, according to folklore. 2. a good portion of the people one meets will likly be damned souls 3. we do not assume that 2. have rights simply by virtue of uncertainty but because they are human. 4. Therefore, yes a Vampire has rights. however, an enemy in arms, or an outlaw does not have the right to be secure from physical harm when he persists in those activities. Likewise a Vampire does not have the right to have a stake pounded through his heart. As for Atheists, well most Atheists are Materialists, even though I suppose one can be an Atheist and an Animist. In the Materialist conception a vampire cannot exist. A creature that extends it's life by feeding off of blood might but that would be a purely biological phenomenon and as suce would miss the point and make a vampiric legend meaningless.

(This comment is dedicated to LeeQuod), Perhaps we could develop some software models that can predict whether vampires have rights? It should also be clarified what *kind* of vampires we're discussing... Are they the satanic undead or are they the "I am Legend" viral mutations (caused, of course, through the massive (mis-?)aid of computers) who are just "MOSTly dead" (as Miracle Max might say)? If it's the latter, then, if atheists think anyone has rights, then of course vampires do - for in a materialist world where plants have rights, who doesn't?