Who’s Rights are Right?
I was having a discussion with Sundance and we were talking about people’s rights. We were talking about several subjects as we usually do when we get together; subjects like the current COVID-19 health scare (Coronavirus), and about the fact that it is an election year, and as typical with election years, how everyone has begun to choose up sides, and how people seem to be stepping on the rights of others out of fear.
As we were talking it dawned on me that people will assert their personal rights or beliefs when they are faced with fear or change. This is not new logic as each of us observes the right to express our views and grievances freely without fear; it certainly is a fundamental human right. And taking that into consideration, we each have the right to seek and to attain a life of dignity and civility where our beliefs and tenets can be realized by each one of us, each and every day.
The more I thought about this concept and how it is central to people’s conceptions of an ideal life and an ideal society, I had to ask myself, is this the world we currently live in? Certainly if each of us practiced civility and acceptance and listened to opposing views with an open heart, it would be what I would call a utopian world. I am not suggesting we change our beliefs or lifestyles; none of that is necessary to open our hearts to the world or to each other.
I am reminded of the four freedoms from a speech by Franklin Roosevelt. The four freedoms FDR outlined were freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. To me, this is the model for any society to strive to attain, and that each of the citizens within that society are allowed these basic rights and freedoms.
As our discussion went on between us, and as it usually does, it migrated to these basic rights and how we implement their practice.
The first (and probably the most important at least for me) is Freedom of speech. Our right of free speech in this country was adopted from the Constitution implemented in 1789. What does that mean? It means we can speak our views without fear. So why are some people so afraid of opposing viewpoints? Is it because they differ from our own? Are we afraid we will have to give up what we believe if we simply listen to another point of view? Of course not. After all it is merely someone exercising their right to free speech. I reflected upon a situation that happened long ago. The Neo-Nazis wanted to assemble in the 1980s in Ann Arbor Michigan (which is considered a very liberal city) and the students of the University of Michigan decided to protest their movement. So whose rights are right? Technically they both are. The Neo-Nazi party can petition for a parade and if the city council grants it, they have the right to peaceful assembly. On the other side, the anti-Nazi’s, which in this instance were mostly students, also have the right to peaceful protest of the Neo-Nazi party. Therefore regardless of how anyone feels about it, neither side has the right to impose their rights over the other. As Sundance puts it, each person’s rights end where another person’s rights begin.
The same applies to freedom of religion. A person’s right to worship the God of their choice or the choice to not worship any God at all, is a basic human right and goes without saying. So why is there so much violence associated with different religions? As Sundance and I discussed, it really does not have anything to do with religion. Whether it is the Bible, the Quran, the Torah, the Tip taka or any other spiritual writings, none of them encourage violence. They are all peaceful books, so why are we afraid if someone prays to a different God? I think it is a possibility because we fear what we do not understand, and maybe we fear that if we listen to another person in relation to their spiritual beliefs, that we feel they are criticizing our faith or what we believe and that it will somehow diminish our own belief in God.
Freedom from want and freedom from fear are rights for each human on the planet. It means that all humanity supports a life of dignity, a healthy peacetime and life for all the inhabitants of the world, free from aggression and discrimination. These are the ones I think are the trickiest. In order to achieve that everywhere, we all have to understand that aggression and violence have no place on the planet…ever. We have to practice that each day, every day, within our own lives. Think about the last time you lost your temper or got angry enough that you would want harm to come to someone else. Was it a fight with someone you care about, or a disagreement with a co-worker, or road rage while driving, or was it a political discussion that heated up? Each of us has been in these situations at one time or another. So we have to look at how we handled it. Did we walk away; did we try to listen to the other person or did we escalate the situation by imposing our beliefs on another person. Whether we are the one who initiated the situation or we were drawn into it, we take responsibility for how the interaction goes. In each of these situations, and unless each person involved is willing to lend a bit of understanding to the other, the conversations and instances can easily derail and end up out of control.
So how do we avoid those unfortunate encounters? How do we preserve our own rights and allow others to preserve theirs? Whose rights are right?
I believe it goes back to what I stated earlier that Sundance always says, my rights end where yours begin and your rights end where mine begin. It’s a simple concept of respecting someone else’s rights. It is putting our fear of what we do not understand aside, regardless of how we may feel. If we can do that, we can effect an immediate and global change in the world around us.
Butch