KEY OF HISTORY
Theory Of Social Justice And Peace
The terms "Human Rights" and "Civil Rights" and the more encompassing concept "Human and
Civil Rights" are probably irretrievably entwined and joined at the hip until today, these names
are commonly used to designate one or the other or both. In theory, the term Civil
Rights refers to rights and privileges granted by a governing body to its constituency;
in the United States, the first ten amendments to the Constitution collectively known as
The Bill Of Rights, for example. Of course in reality, some people on our planet
are granted far fewer civil rights than others and also in practice within the United States
and elsewhere, individuals of various physical, mental, sexual, social, cultural, ethnic and
levels of wealth experience a greater or lesser degree of actuality of our 'guaranteed' civil
rights.
The second term, "Human Rights", implies a greater and more permanent "and justice for
all" than can be hoped to be obtained through the weakness and corrupting nature of governmental
structure. As stated in defiance of the English crown in one of American history's most
famous documents: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." ¹ Note how easily
that Human Rights becomes identifiable and entwined with the civil rights later appended to
The Constitution Of The United States as the first ten amendments. Hinted at in
the English Magna Carta of 1297 and later stated more strongly in the Declaration Of
Independence, the concept of "Human Rights" implies God-given rights and privileges that
cannot morally be usurped by any ruler or governing body.
Historical personages as diverse as Moses, Jesus, Jefferson, Gandhi, King, Chavez and many
others all seem to have strongly believed that Human Rights are granted by our Creator and as
such, represent the highest form of legal authority; greater than that of civil authorities,
generals, kings and major modern governments. There is an abundance of historical evidence
indicating that Human Rights are granted by the Creator, as the idea of treating others as
we ourselves wish to be treated is found in a great many diverse cultures spread throughout the
historical record (see Revolution;
FootNote IV for details). Indeed, modern evolutionary biologists are hard-pressed to
explain how such a phenomenon could naturally occur if there is no Designer behind what we call
a human conscience (explaining conscience at all presents a considerable dilemma to the juvenile
and non-empirical nonsense that creation is a random-chance self-selecting phenomena).
Thus, modern Human and Civil Rights activists generally maintain that Human Rights and Civil
Rights are synonymous in the sense that most civil rights granted by a governing body already
exist as Human Rights and that We The People of Planet Earth possess certain God-given rights
whether or not a particular government grants or upholds them. The concept of "Civil
Disobedience" thus arises and is considered valid when either a government does not grant us
sufficient human rights or, as has more often been the historical reality in the United States,
when civil rights that are Constitutionally guaranteed are not equally upheld and
applied. It is considered righteous and just and prudent to disobey and react against a
governing body if and when either of these realities should exist. For example, even
though many local government (and some federal) laws have been broken in the struggle for human
equality in America, engaging in such civil disobedience, in particular when non-violent
methodologies are used, is considered by many modern individuals to be the correct and even
Godly, rather than the incorrect action to pursue.
In December 1948, from the ashes of The Holocaust of World War II, the Universal
Declaration Of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. This
declaration contains most of the commonly asserted freedoms set down in the constitutions of
many modern nations, including most of what is promised in our own historic first ten amendments; rights
such as "life", "liberty", freedom of thought, religion, right to a fair trial, etc., as well as certain rights defined as
"cultural", "social" and "economic", such as rights of work and collective bargaining, the right
to education and the right to basic economic necessities of life (standard of living rights).
This was not a formal treaty by definition but rather, meant to be a "common standard of
achievement for all peoples and all nations". In other words, most unfortunately it was
not ratified as enforceable under law, thus our modern concept of international 'law' must be
taken as a small grain of unseasoned salt at best, for it is not based on fundamental Human
Rights re-enforced by codified law, nor is there any general consensus regarding the
administration of just and equitable jurisprudence based on this declaration.
The fundamental principle of Human and Civil Rights remains simply, that we should treat
other people in the same way and with the same respect and civility that we ourselves would
like to be treated. For if we all did such, there would be no poverty, there would be no
thievery, rape or murder, there would be no war, there would be no prejudice, there would be no
mass global environmental destruction, there would be free public education for all and, if we
truly put this theory into practice using our science and excess funds and abundance wisely,
there would probably eventually be no physical or mental disease. As an added benefit,
other species would also be treated with due consideration and reverence, as respect for
creation comes natural to people who treat other people fairly and equitably (Albert
Schweitzer, for example). And though it may indeed be correct that the truth will make us
free,² the application of true justice and equality, in spite of over 5,000 years of education,
continues to remain in the very great and distant "sweet by and by" of philosophical and
ethical nirvana.
It is an historical error to assume that loving our neighbor as ourselves is a
religious Judeo-Christian concept, as the idea of treating other people as we ourselves wish to
be treated is found universally throughout the civilization of our species (See
Revolution,
FootNote IV for more information), thus strongly indicating that Human and Civil Rights is a cry
from the heart of all people who inhabit the earth. Likewise, the reality of our modern
education system in the United States remains not even rudimentary in either form or substance,
for to not educate our species in the true morality of Human and Civil Rights and to purge the
teaching of Isaiah, Jesus, Buddha, Lao-Tzu and Gandhi from the minds and conscience of our
future hope is to eliminate true education and reason entirely and altogether. And thus
without historical doubt, to remove all hope for the record of the United States continuing to
be other than a violent chronicle of war and rumor of war. *
Foundation Of Human Rights
Magna Carta
Declaration Of Independence
The Bill Of Rights
Universal Declaration Of Human Rights
DEDICATED TO: President James Earl
Carter, who
perhaps more than any United States President (including Lincoln), understands and practices
what matters in the real world of people acting, interacting and reacting on a global
level. Also dedicated to historian
Ken Burns, whose well-researched video collections on a wide
range of historical subjects everyone seems to thoroughly delight in, even those who otherwise
do not appreciate the study of history at all; how much more our children would likely be to learn of
our heritage if some of our high school and collegiate professors of erudite cobwebbed instructional
archaism would borrow a tip or two from this dedicated and interesting professional.
Credits:
1. Declaration Of Independence; Thomas Jefferson.
2. John 8:32; paraphrase
*FootNote: Although the general ideal and concept of Human and Civil Rights may be agreed
to by most rational human beings, the ability to apply economic, political and social justice
into the actuality of our daily existence continues to escape the modern reality. There
is no proof whatsoever of the validity of the modern talk-show host commonly held assumption
that more education is somehow, the all-encompassing panacea and salvation of humanity, as at
the dawn of the 21st Century, many of our most educated individuals continue to apply their
leadership and intellectual abilities toward profiting from the oppression, murder, rape and destruction of
others. Our modern civilization, dedicated to the ineffectual gods of science and
education, remains an ongoing reality of war and rumor of war, with no end in sight other than
the absolute probability of an eventual planetary Armageddon. (See also The Way, The Tree of Knowledge,
and Revolution for more
information.)
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