Human Rights and Religion

Fabiano Schoenberg

Reading Questions for September 24

 

1-      In "Origins: the Rise and Fall of Natural Rights" according to Freeman, was the concept of natural rights a) rare; b) common; or c) pervasive in 18th century America?  Pick one.

 

The concept of natural rights was pervasive in 18^th century America. Prior to the revolutionary war, Americans were fighting for both religious freedom and government representation. The British government had become viewed as tyrannical. Thomas Paine was an Englishman who migrated to the American colonies and greatly influenced the American Revolution. His pamphlet called “Common Sense” was a strong proponent of natural rights and widely read and supported by the revolutionaries. The Virginia declaration of rights offered natural rights, which originate from the laws of God. Unfortunately at that time these natural rights were not afforded to women and slaves.

 

2-      In the "First Two Hundred Years of an Idea" what does Henkin identify as the "antecedents", the "18th Century thesis", the 19th Century "anti-thesis" and the 20th Century "synthesis" of the idea of "rights"?

 

The antecedents of human rights can be traced back to the Bible. Biblical laws required individuals to obey God’s laws. Indirectly, God’s law differentiated between good and evil behavior as well as justice, judgment and punishment. The individual had some free will, freedom of choice and protection under this system. There are examples in the Bible of governments asking individuals to go against God’s laws and they refused. The 18^th century was a time of great change and a new thesis. The creator gave natural rights to all men, which was not given by the bible but was inherent in the person. The individual was born with these rights. Men were free, allowed to pursue employment, and happiness. The government was there to protect the people but not take away these rights. Some powers were given to the government to protect people from harm from each other and from outside societies. Unfortunately the natural rights in the United States revolution did not include women or slaves. Worse the French revolution was excessively violent resulting in the slaughter of many people. The rights were tilted to the middle class. This led to a counter-revolution against natural rights in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Natural rights were associated with capitalism and the oppression of poor people. The masses revolted in Russia and china and communism was developed. Large populations of people traded food and protection for individual rights and freedom. Government dictatorships returned and many people were killed. After the horrors of World War II, a fusion or a convergence of these movements occurred. Regardless of a democratic or communist/socialist government, the return of human rights is here. Religion has been entirely removed. The individual has universal human rights that he/she is born with as described in the United Nations “Universal declaration of human rights”, which is accepted whatever, the individuals’ race or sex or country of origin. This time everyone is included and the governments are using positive international and country laws to reinforce the individual’s human rights or using the court system to overturn oppressive laws.

 

3-      What does Morsink mean when he says that human rights are "inherent"?  And according to Morsink, what two avenues enable us to know that human rights are universal and inherent?

 

Human rights are inherent, meaning we have them at the moment of birth. They are not created by governments or bestowed by other men. We all have them everywhere and all the time and never lose them.

We know human rights are inherent because we have the natural ability to see the truth and judge for ourselves. We don’t need an expert to judge for us. The other route notes that if human rights are destroyed, we are able to feel the outrage of evil actions that are performed on our fellow humans.