"If all mankind minus one were of one opinion,
Mankind would be no more justified
In silencing that one person,
Than he, if he had the power,
Would be justified in silencing mankind."

 — John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

The world is filled with self-evident truths — truisms — that philosophers, lawyers and judges know need not be proven. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Two plus two equals four. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

These examples, of which there are many, are not true because we believe they're true. They are intrinsically true. Thus, they are true whether we accept their truthfulness or not. Of course, recognizing a universal truth acknowledges the existence of an order of things higher than government and discoverable by the exercise of reason.