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wo words kccp popping up in
a lmos! evcrythi ng you read
about world politics thcse
days: human rights. Considering the
way the phrase is casually tossed
otr
in the mcdia's interminable political
analyses. rcports and harangues. we
would assume there was
a
settlcd
dcfinition of human rights . And
since wc all know wha t human
rights are. we then all kn<;W when a
right is heing violated.
But no . J our nali sts. com–
mentators. ami J immy Carter alluse
the words "human rights" as a
magical incantation designed to eli–
cit an emotional response. hut they
ncver ge t around lo specifica ll y de–
fining human rights or explaining
from whence these rights are de–
rived. Human rights. in today's
news. rate a hetter press than mom.
God. and apple pie. but thc fact
rcmains that "mom." "God." and
"apple pie" are even lcss glittering
gencralities than "human rights ."
Freedom ls Slavery
Unless there is real substance to thc
words "human rights." thcn cvcn the
most bruta ldictatorships can claim to
uphold them and be correct. When
language has no mcaning. you can bet
.. that the first petty Hitler who comes
~
a long will just ooze conccrn for the
~
protection of your "human rights"
~
while he deprives you of everyt hing
you ever earned and sends you oll' to
his labor camps. telling you that in
doing so he is protccting your
"human right" to be free from
uncmployment!
The world already too much re–
sembles George Orwell's nightmare
vision of 1984. where Big Brother
rcgulated thc livcs of everyone. But
in addition to the dangers of total–
itarianism. Orwcll also warned of
the eorruption of language whid1
incvitably accompanies it. The
rulcrs of the 1984-statc will tell you
that thcy are protccting your basil·
human right - to he their slaves. Or–
well summcd it up when he dc–
serihed the slogan of a Big Brother
society: "Freedom is Slavery. War is
Pcace. lgnorance is Strength."
lt
calls to rnind the words o r the
Old Testamcnt prophet: " Woe unto
them that call evil good. and good
evi l" (lsa. 5:20). lndeed. lsaia h\
point is essentially the same as Or–
well's: Language rnust have con–
sisten! and specific rneaning or all
manner of evil will he ealled good .
The reluctance of world lcadcrs to
say precisely what they mean by
"human rights" is a scrious matter.
One current example wc ll illus–
trates this point. Since late autumn
1977. a human rights conferencc has
bcen going on in Belgradc. Yugo–
slavia. Western delcgates have duti–
fully rccited any number of human
rights viola tions. main ly centering on
repression of dissidcnts. by the Com–
munists. And. in true Orwellian fash–
ion. the Communist delcgatcs havc
counterchargcd the Wcst with human
ri ghts violations such as "capitalist
cxploitation" (this simply mcans
working f(¡r somconc othcr than the
govcrnment) a nd "social incl(uality"
(which may mercly mean that you
like ro llcr dcrhics while someonc clse
prefers the opera). Thus. given
today's haphazard application of the
phrase "human rights violations."
therc has ncver been a g reater need to
pinpoint thc dcfinition and origin of
human rights.
U.N.
Declaration
The primary human righ ts documcnt
used today in world poli tics is the
United Nations' Universal Dcdara–
tion of 1-l uman Righ ts.
lt
is a list.
drawn up by Anglo-American law–
yers after Wor ld War
11 .
which enu–
merates a series of rights as thcy
migh t be enforced in. say. a court of
law. The U.N. Declaration consists of
30
articles divided into four parts.
Articlcs 1 and
2
are general artidcs
stating that "all human bcings are
born free and equal in dignity and
rights" and that everyone has equal
rights as specified by the rest of thc
Dedaration.
Articlcs
3
through
21
enumcratc
various civi l and political rights.
HUMAN
RIGHTS
COME
FROM
GOD
What are human rights? Where do they come frmn? World leaders are confused
because they ignore the only real source which gives the answers.
by
Jeff
Calkins
29