Dr. Gerry Lower
Keystone,
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Authors note: It is the author's belief that the superstitious religious
mindset beneath the Bush administration's unilateral neo-imperialism is an
incorrigible, self-righteous mindset that cannot be reasoned with on any
definably intelligent human ground. We are left to watch the culturally-inevitable
and prophetic final curtain call for vengeance-based religion and
self-righteous crony capitalism as they proceed to discredit themselves in the
eyes of the world. At this point in time, it is appropriate to consider how we
are going to pick up all the pieces, how we are going to restore democracy to
the western world and spread the good word by example instead of coercion. Even
the Pope, in his desires for world peace, was against the Bush administration's
pre-meditated, unprovoked war on
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The concept of "freedom" which fueled the emergence of American
democracy has from the start been poorly understood by many Americans,
particularly those of the conservative religious mindset. The well-healed
religious right fought against
As a result, this right wing subset of Americans never did and never have since
bothered to understand where
THE TWO SIDES OF FREEDOM
The American concept of "freedom" is the dialectic synthesis of
western "order" and eastern "harmony" as social values and
is necessarily characterized by two complementary sides in human culture,
Occidental and Oriental. Western culture created the social need for order
which provided "freedom" TO DO in keeping with legal conduct. Eastern
culture created the social need for harmony which provided "freedom"
TO DO in keeping with respectful comport. This is the extent of "freedom"
within feudal western and eastern cultures, freedom TO DO within the confines
of defined social acceptability in maintaining the status quo.
Taken alone and unqualified, freedom TO DO (presumably "as one
pleases") can quickly become an extremist proposition. This is the type of
freedom that was applauded by slave owners in early
Qualified and defined within the frameworks of democracy, however, this freedom
TO DO gives us freedom OF religion, the freedom to believe as we choose in the
realm of theology and spirituality. This freedom TO DO is restricted only by
disallowing us the right to impose those beliefs on anyone else or to act on
those beliefs to the detriment of others (as in the case of the Bush and bin
Ladenist regimes).
Within the world of Science and Democracy there is a far more human definition
of freedom, one which transcends the freedom to be legally occidental or
ethically oriental. That would be the freedom to be honestly human. This
dialectic synthesis provides freedom FROM religious oppression and
despotism. This freedom recognizes that we are all "born free" TO DO
anything we want - provided we are willing to suffer the consequences. The path
to real freedom, freedom of thought and word and action, comes down more to
eliminating unfairness and injustice and unnecessary oppression.
Before one can truly exercise freedom TO DO, one must have the freedom TO BE
thoughtful and caring. Here is where freedom FROM oppression, falsehood and
unnecessary restriction comes into the picture. It is this type of freedom that
was in the hearts of
Real freedom TO DO is more related to being free to make one's own decisions
based upon what one knows and cares about, being free to do what is right (what
is honest and fair as opposed to what is legal and righteous). In other words,
our freedoms TO DO in
In the minds of
DEVELOPMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS
The human rights in Jefferson's Declaration, i.e., "Life, Liberty
and the Pursuit of Happiness," can be reformulated within
developmental frameworks such that their relationships to each other can be
better appreciated and such that the need for lifelong continuity in the
implementation of human rights is more readily apparent.
The right to self-determination, i.e., "liberty" is usually
considered the cornerstone of human rights in the western world. This right guarantees
that everyone is free to make their own decisions and influence their own
destiny. Establishing this right as primary is, however, largely a matter of
diplomacy designed to give others the benefit of the doubt, because this right
assumes that everyone involved in decision-making is honest, knowledgeable and
thoughtful. This has seldom been the case, and it is clear that before one can
make one's own decisions, one must have self-knowledge, knowledge of how and
why the world works. In the developmental sense, therefore, the primary human
right is the right to self-knowledge, the right to human life itself. All other
human rights follow from this right as follows:
"Life" - THE RIGHT TO SELF-KNOWLEDGE
All of life in the human world begins with values (as the most intimate form of
self-knowledge) and self-knowledge. The right to self-knowledge guarantees the
right to life, it guarantees being alive in the only way that differentiates
the people from other living creatures, knowing where we come from, knowing who
we are and knowing why we are here. The right to self-knowledge is equivalent
to the right to be human.
"
There is little use for knowledge if it cannot be used in decision-making and
doing (which is the primary purpose of knowledge). It follows, therefore, that
a second human right is the right to self-determination, the right to liberty,
the right to make one's own decisions in maintaining one's own path through
life.
"Fraternitié" - THE RIGHT TO SELF-IMPROVEMENT
There is, likewise, little use for knowledge and liberty if they cannot be used
for self-improvement, to learn and grow and mature. It follows, therefore, that
a third human right is the right to opportunities for self-growth, development
and maturation, the right to improve oneself in the interest of the whole. This
is all a function of fraternité, having family, friends and community to
provide an honest, nurturing, learning environment throughout.
"Pursuit of Happiness" - THE RIGHT TO SELF-WORTH
There is little use for knowledge, liberty, and maturity if skills and talents
cannot be used to benefit the whole. It follows, therefore, that a fourth human
right is the right to self worth, the right to a meaningful existence, the
right to know that one has made a difference to someone or something, the right
to dignity and respect.
These four human rights, placed into developmental frameworks, are clearly
interrelated insofar as each right is derived from the one before it, with the
fourth right providing the basis for the first three. The fourth right to
self-worth is as fundamentally important as the first three rights in that some
sense of self-worth is required in order to devote oneself to self-knowledge,
self-determination and self-improvement. We are left with a sphere of
highly-integrated, logical human rights forming the core of human democracy. It
is from these rights that all civil rights are properly derived.
Nowhere does anyone have a right to do as one pleases. That position has more
to do with license than with freedom and the Bush administration is a global
exemplar. Nowhere does anyone have a right to enslave people at meaningless
labor for inadequate income. That position has more to do with
self-righteousness than with fairness, and Enron-style crony capitalism is a
global exemplar. Nowhere does anyone have a right to impose religious
superstition upon reasonable people. That position has more to do with folly
than with American wisdom, and are we not in America a contemporary global
exemplar?
In a true democracy, people do not give themselves a chance (as if gambling) to
experience freedom, people give themselves a guarantee of freedom. This begins,
of course, by honoring natural human rights, because all human freedoms flow
therefrom. It is the only way the world works naturally.