Thursday, August 22, 2024

Human Rights and Justice from a Religious-Philosophical Perspective

Human rights are very basic conception that all human life has value. Human Rights and Justice are related to the concepts of fairness of treatment. In the lives we live, the laws we create (or enforce) and the environment we develop (intentional and unintentional) the terms Human Rights and Justice have different meanings. They also have widely different applications depending on who or whom does the harm and who or whom is on the receiving end. 

In my experience there are very good people who support justice and in many cases our institutions seek to create an atmosphere where these important ideals can flourish for the benefit of society (I have respect for institutions that live by their missions.). Sometimes these systems stop working (or don't work well) and for whatever reason  (I have respect for their right to change.). Usually this isn't the fault of the institution and its values but the human folly of its application (Why checks and balances are needed). 

Where I learned about human rights and justice was first in an vivid human exchange sense, then a religious/spiritual sense, then a military sense, an academic sense and then a proof in pudding systemic sense. I suppose for all people we will eventually experience it in a divine sense these concepts when we are old and grey (At least that is what most religious sort of try and remind us of.).

As a Catholic, Muslim, Jew (...an idea that we all share a beginning and an end). I learned human rights and justice first from the Capuchins and found these ideas nearly identical in every major religion I have experienced and learned about thereafter. 

These are some interesting pieces The Concepts of Human Rights in Judaism, Christianity and Islam and the Concept of Justice 

Not that it matters much but I will say that I have a profound respect for all religious (almost all) because they are philosophies that help guide our secular laws. The pure and the copy distribution. When they are applied properly we don't create distinctions within institutions and we don't pervert the greater laws for the smaller ones. Nor should we pervert the concept of human rights and justice for one type of person over another based on superficial perspectives. 

Human rights and basic concepts of justice are needed in this world and they are needed in our institutions now more than ever. Without it there is little sense of moral order. Without moral authority there is pretty much just power. A world of just power is brutal and doesn't provide for an environment of human dignity. A lie becomes true and the truth becomes a lie. This is why our laws are based in "In God We Trust" to help us think beyond law to its essential universal purpose. "errare humanum est"

Anyway, the video sort of reminds me of how that journey sort of got started. Good peeps. I have met good people of almost every religion who believe in a higher moral order. If we could get them to work together maybe we could support human rights and justice more effectively and broadly. I don't know what everyone is fighting about anyway. If the beginning and the end are the same the stuff in the middle is sort of life fluff we have to learn to swim through. In that we are all equals. 

I was searching for the concept of justice and this showed up first and I thought it was fitting (I'm not advocating or not advocating but just saying we can learn from each other through many various perspectives.) The Psychology and Theology of Open Mindedness

*This is for learning purposes only. A philosophical exploration like a thought experiment on freedom of religion and thought. i like these deeper concepts. 

 

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