Does God Believe in Human Rights?

Back in February 2005 I gave a paper at a conference at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in London on the theme: Does God Believe in Human Rights? I was very pleased a few days ago when the edited volume of the papers from the conference (published by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, Netherlands) dropped through my letterbox.

I had almost given up hope of seeing my paper in print. Now, my pleasure in seeing my paper in print is absurd and perhaps a tad fraudulent, because most of the other contributors are genuine academics, some quite eminent in the fields of religion and human rights, which I am not. I only crept in because one of the conference organizers is a friend of mine and thought there should be a Baha’i perspective.

Anyway, for what it’s worth, my paper is entitled: A More Constructive Encounter: A Baha’i View of Religion and Human Rights. I have written under my full name, John Barnabas Leith. This is the editors’ outline of the paper, from the volume’s foreword:

In this chapter, John Barnabas Leith elaborates the clear theological foundations and commitment of the Baha’i Faith to universal human-rights values. He draws on both the Baha’i sacred writiings and the practice of the Baha’i International Community, a UN non-governmental organisation, in support of his position. Baha’i sacred writings are centrally concerned with questions of good governance and judicial, social and economic justice. This is rooted, at least in part, in the concern that all individuals should be allowed to develop their qualities and capacities for their own good and the good of society as a whole. It is further developed, Leith argues, in the principle of the oneness of humankind which lies at the core of Baha’i teachings. This has wide-ranging implications for societal justice, from the abandonment of prejudice to the embracing of diversity. Each and every human being, in Baha’i perspective, is worthy of moral protection and the holder of inalienable human rights; each human being is a trust of the whole of humankind. These principles are explored further in relation to the freedom of all individuals to investigate reality for themselves, the freedom of religion and belief, human dignity, and in the development of a peaceful and united global civilisation. These principles are then examined in relation to a number of Baha’i human rights activities - particularly the defence of the human rights of the Baha’is in Iran.

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