Members of the 1998 Religious Freedom Journey were joined by religious and human rights leaders outside the European Parliament in Brussels (above). The 3,225-kilometre, continent-wide project was supported by Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu and other religious communities.
|
The vital importance of human rights in preventing war and promoting goodwill between nations, races and religions is the central reason the United Nations adopted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. Its preamble states, “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind...” and calls for “the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want.”
The fundamental premise of human rights, laid down in Article 1 of the Declaration, is that, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the world’s foremost human rights charter and is the fount from which all modern human rights instruments have sprung, including the European Convention on Human Rights and the more recent Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The UDHR has been translated into at least 300 languages and is accessible within seconds on the Internet, as are both the Convention and the Charter. Yet an October 2002 survey by the European Commission revealed that only one in five Europeans feel they are well informed about their rights as EU citizens. It is not unreasonable to assume, therefore, that in countries around the world with lower literacy rates, a majority of the population are uninformed about the basic human rights granted under the UDHR.
Government officials and leaders of nongovernmental organisations participated in events, including EU Parliament and UNESCO officials. A Mormon Church interfaith representative in the U.K. (top) was among the thousands who signed the proclamation to make the Declaration a reality in all lands.
|
Scientologists hold that the rights articulated in the UDHR, if applied broadly, will not only lead to a massive reduction of human rights violations across the world, but will significantly vanquish the simmering resentments that cause racial and religious conflicts — and are used for recruitment by terrorists. But any human rights charter, no matter how noble in its aspirations, has no practical use unless it is known, understood and applied. Believing, therefore, that greater awareness of the UDHR will lead to greater exercise of its principles, churches of Scientology have for many years made human rights education a priority.
In 1998, observing that even in Europe many people were losing their jobs and suffering other forms of discrimination solely because of their beliefs or ethnicity, the Church of Scientology International’s Human Rights Office launched a campaign to achieve that very purpose: increasing public understanding of human rights.
