During a recent discussion, I was embarrassed to discover that I could not prove that Human Rights are Inherent and Immutable. Worse: I couldn’t even show that we have Human Rights! An argument against Homo Sapiens having unique ‘Rights’ arises from the probability that we are not the only advanced species in the Universe.
There may be billions of sentient life forms— so, why would humanity have special Rights? (“There are up to 19,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars similar to ours with at least one planet similar to Earth.”) The good news is that ‘Faster Than Light’ travel is highly improbable, so alien rights are moot!
After mulling on the Human Rights conundrum without finding a satisfactory answer, I took to Netflix for distraction! Curiously, the final episode of “Afterlife,” gave glimmers of insight. Afterlife was written, produced, and directed by atheist and comedian, Ricky Gervais. He also plays the main character of Tony Johnson, who is suicidally depressed after the death of his wife from cancer. For most of the series Tony is consistently horrible to people and considers this to be his ‘super-power’!
[SPOILER ALERT!] In the final episode, after watching pre-recorded messages from his wife, Tony comes to the realisation that his ‘superpower’ is being kind to other people. He even manages to tell the odd white lie to protect the feelings of others, rather than lambasting them with his usual brutal honesty! The clip below is of Tony, a reporter for the local paper, interviewing children with cancer.
Gervais paints a beautiful image of life, love, death, and reconciliation. He gives us his view of an afterlife, a ‘supernatural state.’ Religions obviously focus on ‘God’ and supernatural states first. Only secondly, do Religions show us how to live a good life. Christ gave the simplest instructions of all: Love your God and Love your Neighbour.
Gervais may be light on the God bit, but he seems to be doing well on the “Love your neighbour” part.
The misnomer of ‘Human Rights’
Humans are happiest when caring for others: our families, then friends, community, and extended affiliations / humanity.
A weakness in atheism and secular societies is the abandonment of guides like the Holy Bible, the Torah, the Koran, etc. Humanity came precipitously close to self-destruction during WWII, so we developed an alternative moral roadmap: the UN Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. Some countries have similar documents, including the Magna Carta Liberatum (the Great Charter of Freedoms) in England, 1215 A.D.; the Declaration of Independence in the US, 1776; and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada, 1982.
These Declarations and Charters define ‘Human Rights,’ but they are much better perceived to be our Responsibilities to fellow human beings. Responsibilities show us how to start loving our neighbour.
This was poignantly said by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:
“We hear a constant clamor for rights, rights, always rights, but so very little about responsibility. And we have forgotten God. The need now is for selflessness, for a spirit of sacrifice, for a willingness to put aside personal gains for the salvation of the whole Western world.”
Are human responsibilities immutable?
Quick answer: Yes!
This answer is from a Moral Absolutist position, which brings us to certain definitions:
Moral Absolutism: “Moral Absolutism is the ethical belief that there are absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged, and that certain actions are right or wrong, regardless of the context of the act.” (As in something is either “Right” or “Wrong.”)
Moral Relativism: “the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.” (As in, this is ‘My’ Truth.)
Post-Modernism (abbreviated from Wikipedia): An intellectual stance defined by opposition to epistemic certainty and the stability of meaning. Post-Modernism dismisses objective facts as naive realism and is characterized by self-referentiality, epistemological, moral relativism, pluralism, irony, irreverence, and eclecticism; rejects the ‘‘universal validity’’ of binary oppositions, stable identity, hierarchy, andcategorization. (As in “Nothing is a fact.”)
The legal definitions we use for Human Rights and Responsibilities are limited by our capacity to conceptualize such intangibles, and our ability to explain them through language.
Relativists will claim that Rights and Responsibilities are not inherent or immutable, because they ‘are granted by others’ (e.g. by governments.) They claim that Rights and Responsibilities can vary according to the situation: indeed, they can be denied, but they cannot be nullified.
Our responsibilities to others do not vary particularly unless there is a major overriding reason, such as the need for self-defense when dealing with a violent person. Typically, what varies is our attentiveness to the task.
Moral Absolutism and Double Effect
Mainstream religions hold positions towards Moral Absolutism. Some have accused the Catholic Church of changing what it deems to be ‘moral’ at times.
This can arise when a situation is analyzed using the principles of Double Effect. There are four criteria and all four must be fulfilled for an action to be considered moral.
The aim of the action must be good, or at least morally neutral.
The good effect must come directly from the good action.
The evil effect must not be desired but only permitted (and so long there is no other reasonable choice.)
There must be a sufficiently grave reason for permitting the evil effect to occur.
This means that one may NOT act immorally even for a good outcome (e.g., one cannot intentionally kill an innocent person to save other lives.)
Applying Double Effect to Abortion, shows its immorality in every clause:
1. The aim of an abortion is the death of an innocent human being (so is not good, nor neutral.)
2. All ‘good effects’ arise from the deliberate killing of an innocent person, so they do not come from a ‘good action’.
3. There are reasonable alternatives (e.g., adoption) and the evil effect — the death of the child — is the desired outcome.
4. The mother’s circumstances cannot be so grave as to outweigh the killing of an innocent human being.
Pro-Aborts always bring up the issue of treating some serious illness in a pregnant woman. Using Double Effect, it appears to be moral to fully treat a seriously ill pregnant woman, even if the treatment might lead to the death of her child, so long as there is no otherreasonable treatment choice and that outcome is an indirect and unwanted consequence of the treatment.
The optimism of Christianity
Relativism seems more “user-friendly” than Moral Absolutism because its believers can rationalize most every situation to suit themselves! (“self-referentiality.”) This can lead to the complete abrogation of all personal responsibility — little wonder it is so popular.
Post-Modernism is an easy philosophy to ascribe to, but it seems pitifully negative. Imagine believing that nothing has innate value, consistency, or validity…ever. So depressing. It must be hard for an Atheist or Humanist to maintain a consistently moral stance through times of doubt. Religions support us through dark times and give us hope and a sense of continuity into an afterlife. Catholic ideas of redemption and forgiveness are wonderfully reassuring.
It is clear why dictators repress Religion. If Pol Pot and his followers had any sense of love of their neighbour, Cambodia might have avoided the Killing Fields. We do not have to look far to see worrisome examples today.
The Bible encapsulates all of this in just one sentence:
‘But the greatest of these is love…’
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Bastille Day is a commemoration of the Genocide of French Catholics, such as the brave people of the Vendee https://t.co/TxxfgEsuwd -
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Pope Francis has said that US President Joe Biden is 'incoherent' on abortion and should speak to his pastor. https://t.co/9RCIHO7ymx
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'A group in the centre near the altar sang hymns during the Mass…The whole ceremony was intently watched by soldier… https://t.co/0C2VIzjneB
