Why Human Rights?
We all know injustice when we meet it. Can you recall an early memory of an injustice? One of mine happened at school: I got busted for talking while the teacher was. He must have been in a bad mood that day because he told me and another student caught in the same act to come up in front of the class. Then he offered me a choice between the cane, then and there or a week’s detention. Being somewhat used to the cane, I opted for that. So I was caned in front of the class, which is not an entirely pleasant experience (even for someone used to being caned). Then the teacher turned to the other student. He clearly didn’t like the idea of being caned in front of everyone so he opted for the detention. But then the teacher told him, “Forget detention, just don’t it again.” Obviously this is a minor injustice in the worldwide scheme of things but I can still feel the injustice of it. most of us have a keen sense of justice & anger towards injustice.
The bible says that God is a God of justice. So in Zechariah 7, read earlier, God condemns Israel for their injustice: ‘Render true judgments, show kindness & mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien or the poor.’ The passage goes on to say that judgment is coming upon Israel for their failure to render justice to the needy. God is a God of justice. We look forward to the coming Kingdom of God when everything will be put to right that the world has made ‘un-right’.
But in the meantime how shd we respond to injustice? Surely it’s not enough to simply deal with its consequences. Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said;
Christians shouldn’t just be pulling people out of the river. We should be going upstream to find out who’s pushing them in.
Human rights have because a key tool for dealing with injustice. Earlier in the service we heard how human rights are making a difference to the people of Zimbabwe. A few weeks ago we heard how the West Papuans are using human rights to seek justice, dignity and protection.
But human rights are controversial. Indeed some Christian leaders have actively campaigned against the recent proposal for a Federal Charter of Rights. Why are human rights controversial? Do they really help societies become fairer or will they bog us in a mire of other problems? It’s an important question, because if human rights are an effective tool to create a fairer society, then they are at least one way we can love our neighbour.
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Click here for full sermon on human rights preached by Angus McLeay, founder of IsaiahOne, on August 16 2009.
The sermon addresses the question of what response Christians should have to reforms to our laws regarding human rights. The readings are Zechariah 7:5-10 and Luke 10:25-37 (the Good Samaritan). The exercise referred to in the middle (but not on audio) involved the congregation looking at four human rights scenarios which can be viewed here.
Click below to hear audio (32 mins).