It seems as though the concept of natural rights have lost credibility due to its shift from the people’s hands to the government’s advantage.
During the world’s history, people have realized and identified what is necessary in order to lead a minimally good life. These essential elements have become moral truths, also known as natural justice. [Natural [justice] is that which has the same validity everywhere and does not depend upon acceptance. (Nicomachean Ethics, 189 Aristotle).
Therefore, society upholds moral truths despite government rulings.
Many ideas of human rights commence at religious texts and continue through the great philosophers of our time. The Bible claims that the divine image created all human beings; therefore, all human beings are equal in God’s eyes. Thus, it is necessary to protect equality in all human beings. By the formation of Christianity in the early centuries, Christians spread these basic rights because they are the will of God. By the diffusion of these Christian ideas, the concept of natural law was introduced to the individual before even having established a governmental structure.
In recent centuries, numerous movements for political change have occurred with one of their reasons being human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), one of the most recent declarations of human rights, occurred after World War II. This doctrine was established to avoid the horrific acts of the Holocaust from reoccurring. This doctrine lists specific human rights, such as the right not to be tortured, the right to own property, and the right to asylum. These rights are fundamental and take part in various other doctrines, declarations and constitutions. From this point, one can see how human rights have slowly moved away from society’s moral code to political interests.
The Essay on Human Nature And The Declaration Of Independence
by Jake Repp I would like to show that the view of human nature that is shown in The Declaration of Independence is taken more from the Bible and that that view is in disagreement with two of the three esays given in class. The Biblical perspective of man is that he was created by a divine Creator with a specific plan in mind and made in the image of his Creator. Men are entitled to the pursuit of ...
The beginning of the United States of America is another example of political change by means of human rights. Settlers established the United States of America in order to freely practice their religion and seek fortune. At the time, America was only a colony of England, thus forced to abide by British laws. The colonists then decided to secede from England because they did not agree with the actions of the English government. One of these reasons was that their rights were being violated. They did not believe in housing the British soldiers free nor did the colonists agree with the inability to bear arms. The British had overtaken the major cities of the overseas colony and enforced harsh rulings
and taxes upon the colonists. In the end, the discontented settlers joined forces to drive the British out of America. That their rights were being hindered was their only excuse.
The new America then set to the task of creating a Constitution. A Bill of Rights was included in this Constitution. This was done in order to refrain from any impediment on their natural human rights. The first, the third, and the forth amendments are directly correlated with basic human rights. With these three amendments, it is clear that the Bill of Rights protects the natural basic rights of the human being. These are the rights to liberty, property, and individualism.
Unfortunately, the government has taken advantage of the notion of human rights in order to satisfy their own personal self- interests. Upon a closer look, it is clear that today’s society is hypocritical. In solely the United States’ actions, it is clear that, despite the elapse from a moral code to a means of changing a political system, control of the human rights issue is now in the hands of the government and not the people. The government now uses the concept of human rights to rally support from its citizens, yet this very government ignores its own actions.
The Essay on Democracy in Latin America
Is Democracy Sustainable in Latin America? In order to determine if democracy is sustainable in Latin America, it is important to understand or at least have an idea of what democracy is. There are several types of democracy and each is different. According to the English dictionary, democracy is ? a government by the people; especially: rule of the majority by a government in which the supreme ...
Upon reflection of the history of human rights, it is unfortunate to see that hypocritical governments have infringed upon these moral principles or natural truths. The human race once believed that human rights would protect them, even against the government. In fact, some even went as far as to say the government’s sole purpose was to enforce these human rights and protect the citizens. Regrettably, humans have lost faith in their moral codes and have given the power of human rights to the government. In this sense, the government is now capable of conforming natural basic rights to fit their needs. The nations of the world should ponder over the power of moral human rights in favor of the popular masses and not in self- interest.
Human Rights are fundamental to a healthy society, but they can be seen as conditional in which other rights will restrict or override them . This can be seen in the case of the freedom of Expression and the recent enactment of hate speech laws in the majority of Democracies. Democracies that implement these laws have been questioned about the legitimacy of their form of democracy, but it is the enactments of these hate speech laws that help legitimize democracies, and help protect the rights of the people, in which is the responsibility of a government and democracy. It is the purpose of a democracy to protect the rights of the people and not to discriminate. So when democracies implement restrictions on speech laws, they are not usually doing it to restrict the public’s opinion but to preserve social harmony and eliminate discrimination . This is why when democracies implement hate speech laws they are being legitimate, they are trying to protect the rights of not just the majority but also the minority whose rights may be violated . A democracy is defined as “a method of gro……
The Essay on To what extent should governments protect minority rights? research paper 1967
To what extent should governments protect minority rights? On December 10, 1948 one of the most important declarations ever pronounced came about in Paris, France. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by members of the United Nations in order to set a standard for governments around the globe to strive for. This manifesto laid the groundwork for equality, freedom, justice, and ...