Human Rights - Right Human Relations |
| Human Rights - Right Human Relations |
| We the Peoples of the United Nations
determined ... to reaffirm faith in the fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small ... |
So states the preamble of the
United Nations Charter. But if we are to help transform the
condition of human life and consciousness, it is essential that
more thought be given to the deeper spiritual significances of
this aim.
The great keynote of freedom which signifies our modern era has
been embodied in revolution, the rejection of orthodoxy and the
urge for change, experiment and for direct experience, but above
all in humanity's struggle for human rights. As we move from an
age of authority to one of experience, people seek for others
what they demand for themselves - the right to freedom of thought,
speech and worship, and the right to those conditions of life
that will permit full expression to the dignity, equality and
brotherhood of all humanity.
Thus, the great historical declarations from Magna Carta on,
including the declarations of the American and French revolutions,
the Declaration of the Rights of the Toiling and Exploited
Peoples adopted in Russia in 1918, the Atlantic Charter, the Four
Freedoms, culminating in the United Nations Universal Declaration
of Human Rights in 1948, are signposts in the recognition of the
individual's own essential humanity and concern for others.
The fact that these great statements of intent have taken such a
hold on human consciousness demonstrates their essential
spiritual potency and divine origins. They have given humanity
purpose and direction and an ideal at which to aim. They are the
equivalents along the line of government and the social structure
of the great pronouncements of the world teachers and religious
leaders, such as the last sermon of the Buddha, the Sermon on the
Mount, the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes and the Eight Means
to Yoga, or Union with the Soul.
The Principle
of Freedom
It has been said that standing behind the trinity of light, love
and will which represent the highest conception of divinity of
which humanity is capable, there lies another greater principle.
This is the principle of liberation of which humanity's demand
for freedom is a faint and most inadequate reflection, but
nevertheless to which it is a clear and definite response. All
life seeks liberation. Our modern struggle for human rights is a
response to the direction of life itself, and this is its
essential meaning. However imperfect the expression and however
crude the attempt, the search for »human rights in larger
freedom« is, in the last analysis, one of the most profound
spiritual impulses in all human history.
Yet human rights do not exist in a vacuum. They must find
expression in a complex and worldwide network of human
relationships. A declaration may establish the goal and act as a
magnet for thought. The law may compel a certain observance and
restrict, limit and punish the grosser forms of abuse. But no law
or declaration can, on its own, change human thinking, eliminate
blind prejudice and self interest, or create that atmosphere of
brotherhood and goodwill in which the full expression of human
rights can be achieved. One can no more legislate the removal of
prejudice and the denial of human equality than one can create
abundance with a stroke of the pen. The observance of human
rights depends on the establishing of right human relations. And
right human relations are based on tolerance, understanding and
goodwill; on a sense of responsibility for the welfare of all;
and on a willingness to accept, indeed welcome, the immense
diversity of human kind, and to love the freedom which enables
that diversity to flourish within the unity of the greater whole.
Transforming
Human Consciousness
If the expression of human rights depends on the establishing of
right human relations, right human relations can only be
established by the development of a more inclusive consciousness.
St. Paul said, »Be ye therefore transformed by the renewing of
your mind.« The transformation of human life on this »planet of
pain« can only be achieved by the transformation of human
consciousness.
Today, this transformation of humanity is under way. The outlines
of a planetary synthesis, based on a worldwide interdependence
has emerged. But critical, desperate problems face the human
family. Human rights, though enshrined in many national
constitutions, are far from being adequately established or
observed. Attitudes of prejudice, greed, fear and suspicion
poison relations between individuals, groups and nations.
In 1988, marking the fortieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the General Assembly unanimously
launched a World Public Information Campaign for Human Rights.
Called for was the creation of a universal culture of human
rights that will permeate societies all over the world. This
campaign for human rights has provided an opportunity for renewed
and conscious effort to educate the public in right human
relations and in society's collective duties and responsibilities
to one another. Also, it has helped focus attention on those
grave and worldwide problems which still stand in the way of a
new world order based on right human relations and the rights of
all humanity. A further landmark in the promotion of such a
universal culture was reached when the General Assembly adopted a
resolution to convene a World Conference on Human Rights in 1993.
Perhaps the most disturbing trend and gravest problem facing
humanity at this moment is the growth of extremism. Our worldwide
problems of race relations, poverty, ecological imbalance, war,
and disarmament, and our failure as yet on a world scale to
provide even a minimum education for the vast mass of the world's
children, have combined to create massive frustration. The
downtrodden and dispossessed, fired by the vision of freedom and
human rights, can wait no more. Those who would change the
current state of affairs and work for right human relations are
likewise frustrated both by the enormity of the world's problems
and the all too widespread inertia of those men and women of
goodwill who could help so much but who
choose to remain silent - immersed in petty problems and personal
affairs.
Much of this extremism is understandable. It is a last resort
reaction to the perpetuation of intolerable conditions. It can
also stir the lethargic to constructive action, and there is
evidence that the extremity of human crisis is doing just this.
But it is also a tragically double-edged weapon, feeding hatred
and violence, deepening old cleavages, creating new ones and
destroying the already tenuous fabric of relationships that have
been built across areas of conflict.
Extremism today could get out of hand and, totally disrupting
society, destroy not only the present evils it seeks to
obliterate but the new society which its exponents seek to create.
The issues are finely balanced. The men and women of goodwill are
urged to take immediate and effective right action.
The Need for
Human Rights
The human race is therefore faced with a number of decisive
issues:
These are tasks in which all can
share. And while no one can tell another how he or she should
serve, it is essential to point out that the need today is for
dedicated servers in every field of human activity who will
cooperate with the divine Plan as it seeks to work out in world
affairs.
| United Nations and Human Rights |
When it is desired to set forth a
series of goals towards which the governments and peoples of the
world should strive, the United Nations or its agencies may adopt
a declaration or a recommendation. When it is possible to lay
down a set of standards precise enough to be embodied in law, an
international convention may be adopted. Conventions are binding
only on those States which have become panies thereto.
Currently over 60 United Nations human rights declarations and
conventions have been negotiated. The following is a list of some
of these:
The
Declarations
The Conventions
| A Call to
Action |
»Our age which has often
been so cruel, can now pride itself on having witnessed
the birth of a universal human rights movement. In all
walks of life brave individuals are standing up for their
brothers who have been reduced to silence by oppression
or poverty. Their struggle has transcended all frontiers,
and their weapon is knowledge ... Defending human rights
today means above all bringing the most secret crimes to
light. It means trying to find out and daring to speak
with complete objectivity, something which requires
courage and occasionally, even heroism ... The United Nations is cognizant that, for human rights to be more fully recognized and respected, the awareness and support of all are required.«
|
Men and women of goodwill who wish
to participate in action to strengthen and implement basic human
rights and freedoms are recommended to get in touch with their
local or national United Nations Association, or one of the many
United Nations Information Centres; with appropriate governmental
agencies and private organisations to find out about action in
their local areas with which they can cooperate.
| World Goodwill |
This leaflet is issued by World
Goodwill, an organised movement founded in 1932 to help establish
right human relations and to help solve humanity's problems
through the constructive power of goodwill. World Goodwill's
activities are essentially educational and include:
World Goodwill is an activity of
the Lucis Trust, a non-profit tax-exempt educational corporation
founded in 1922.
Further copies of this leaflet are available from World Goodwill
at any of the addresses below.
World
Goodwill
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3 Whitehall Court
London
SW1A 2EF
EnglandWorld
Goodwill
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Goodwill
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