Recently Erica and I had dinner with Mieko, who is studying law, and is a member of Lincoln’s Inn, one of the great Inns of Court where barristers train and practise in London. It was guest night in the beautiful dining hall of Lincoln?s Inn.

The speaker before dinner was, Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, the civil and human rights organization based in London. She is a well known human rights advocate. During her speech she made it clear that she believes unequivocally in universal human rights. All of us, no matter who we are, where we live, what race or religion we belong to, have the right to life and liberty, to freedom from arbitrary arrest, to freedom of speech, and so on.

These rights, which are enshrined in major international agreements, are all intended to protect our dignity, freedom and equality as human beings.

To quote from her profile on the Liberty website:

Shami believes that human rights should be at the core of society?s value system. She spends a great deal of time writing and speaking on the need to create a ?culture of respect for human rights? with acknowledgment that rights and freedoms are the concern of us all.

Later this year will see the 25th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. According to this declaration, governments should not discriminate against people because they belong to a religion or have a set of beliefs, whether religious or non-religious. Nor should they promote intolerance or allow discrimination by others.

Baha’is believe that human conscience is sacred. Human beings are fundamentally makers or discoverers of meaning. We always want to know how life hangs together, what it all means. It?s a quick route to madness to conclude that life has no meaning. And people have survived terrible torture and unjust imprisonment because they have had a strong sense of what the meaning of life and suffering.

As a Bah??? I wholeheartedly affirm that everyone has the right to search for meaning for themselves. We should all have the freedom to choose our beliefs, whether religious or non-religious. And we should all have the freedom to share our beliefs with others or to change our religion or beliefs. Under international law no government should deprive its citizens of these rights. Nor, indeed, should any religious authority or doctrine.

There are too many countries in the world today where the right to freedom of religion or belief or violated. And it?s most often women and minorities who are deprived of access to education, of the right of peaceful assembly, citizenship, political participation, even life itself, on the grounds that they follow what someone in power considers to be the ?wrong? belief system.

Violation of this right actually prevents people from discovering and expressing their full potential as human beings. It?s not a trivial matter. The right to freedom of religion and belief is fundamental to fully expressing one’s humanity; it’s a right worth protecting and striving for.

The Baha’i International Community has an excellent statement on this, Freedom to Believe: Upholding the Standard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Go read!

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