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Full Human Rights –- A Reflection of God
December 2008
by Fr. John S. Rausch
By affirming universal human rights, we embrace every person as our equal regardless of nationality, ethnicity or religion. Universal human rights means there are no "us" and "them", no superior or inferior, no master race or subhuman one. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed everyone’s equal rights by its adoption on December 10, 1948, but unfortunately 60 years later it remains more a vision and a work in progress than an accomplishment and reality.
In 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt gave his Four Freedoms speech before Congress citing freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. Seven years later those freedoms formed an intricate part of the preamble of the Universal Declaration recognizing that contempt for human rights has "resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind."
The Catholic Church only hesitantly accepted modern human rights standards because it initially worried that the emphasis on individualism might encourage religious relativism and undermine a commitment to the common good. As the principles of human rights and democracy became more properly understood, John XXIII burst forth in Pacem in Terris (1963) with support for the full range of human rights contained in the Universal Declaration. After John Courtney Murry, S.J., successfully argued that religious freedom is rooted in the very dignity of the human person, Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Liberty fully linked human rights with the core of Christian faith, thus transforming the church into a crucial advocate for human rights.
A quick example: during the repressive years in Brazil with state censorship and wholesale abuses of civil rights, the Brazilian bishops in 1973 printed the entire text of the Universal Declaration on broadsheet adding quotations from Scripture and citations from Catholic and Protestant statements after each of the 30 articles. They posted it on church bulletin boards throughout the country as a protest against the harsh regime.
From the outset, a split existed about the Universal Declaration between the West and industrial nations that emphasized political and civil liberties and the countries of the global South that stressed development issues highlighting economic and social rights.
Roosevelt’s freedom from want finds expression in Article 23 addressing the right to adequate employment, remuneration and ability to join a union. Article 25 lists the social protections including the right to food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services (cf. Pacem.in Terris, #11). Philosophically, the U.S. approaches these rights by supporting a healthy marketplace, not with large government intervention. Yet, currently a World Public Opinion poll showed three quarters of those surveyed (Democrats and Republicans) acknowledged that government has a responsibility for meeting the economic and social rights of its own American citizens, notably the right to food, healthcare and education.
The early articles of the Universal Declaration outline the political and civil rights of people–equality, no discrimination, right to life, no slavery. However, Article 5 reads: "No one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." Pause. Abu Ghraib. Guantanamo. Think memos and legal opinions that redefined torture and justified it.
For 60 years the Universal Declaration failed its potential because rogue regimes have denied and hidden their abuses toward dissenters and minorities. The U.S. needs to make a difference. It can establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to examine our overzealous use of "robust interrogation" that included stress positions, sexual humiliation and waterboarding. Doing so would re-establish our moral leadership and affirm universal human rights for even our enemies.
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