Related Words, Beliefs, Background for Choice #23

Worldview Theme #32A: Human Rights

Worldview Theme #33A: Servitude--Suffering, Enabling, or Enslaving

for a summary read these 5 entries in order: human rights, human rights struggles, civil rights, indigenous people rights,
immigration issues

for a summary read these 5 entries in order: slavery, prostitution forced, political prisoner, master, slavery and Christianity

absolute poverty -- when people are barely able to meet their minimum subsistence needs for food, water, clothing, shelter, livelihood, etc.

aggression, origin and types of -- an offensive action, either physical act, verbal assault, bodily attack, display of hostility, or threat. If directed against an individual, it can do physical or psychological damage, reduce fitness, and limit freedom. The attack can be unprovoked and seemingly senseless, or it can be motivated by frustration, fear, or a desire to induce fear -- perhaps even flight -- in others. If the aggression is verbal, nothing more than a strong desire to advance one’s ideas, position or interests may be behind it. Or its origin may be rooted in a special situation or circumstances. Some of these types of aggression have been named, including 1) altruistic aggression -- aggression to protect others, 2) displaced aggression -- aggression directed at a person other than the person directly responsible for the grievance, 3) maternal aggression -- aggression by a mother to protect her children, 4) territorial aggression -- aggression to protect one’s territory. 

authoritarian personality--describes one who rigidly conforms, is intolerant,  prefers living in an authoritarian system, and seeks servile acceptance of that authority and obedience.  Note that those actually in the positions of authority may not possess this type of personality. 

blasphemy–in general, irreverence toward something considered sacred; in particular using the name of God (or other sacred deity) in an insulting, contemptuous, or defaming way. Theocracies  (notably Pakistan)—may have a law that makes blasphemy a crime (insulting Allah, the Qu’ran, etc. can result in imprisonment.)    

brotherhood -- an idealized situation in which people treat each other in a highly considerate way as if they were members of the same family (brothers or sisters)

brainwashing -- a forcible indoctrination to persuade someone to give up certain beliefs, attitudes and practices in favor of those espoused by whomever is behind the brainwashing.

censorship–the practice of restricting communication (written, oral, in creative expression, etc) and access to information by altering, deleting, or suppressing it.  While political or moral concerns are often cited as rationale for censorship, it can result  if someone in a position of authority finds something objectionable for whatever reason

child labor--the use of under aged children for work in factories, mines, farms, armies, as prostitutes, etc. According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children should be "protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development."

civil liberties--are individual rights typically guaranteed by democratic and sometimes by other governments in constitutions or similar legally binding documents.  Their existence can be traced to efforts to limit the potential for government abuse of power and interference in the lives of individuals. Examples of particular civil liberties are freedoms of assembly, speech, and religion, and the rights to a fair trial, privacy, and to bear arms.

civil liberties—ACLU = American Civil Liberties Union—There are three things these people want you to know about them: “1) We protect American values. In many ways, the ACLU is the nation's most conservative organization. Our job is to conserve America's original civic values--the Constitution and the Bill of Rights--and defend the rights of every man, woman and child in this country; 2) We're not anti-anything. The only things we fight are attempts to take away or limit your civil liberties, like your right to practice any religion you want (or none at all);  or to decide in private whether or not to have a child; or to speak out--for or against--anything at all; or to be treated with equality and fairness, no matter who you are; 3) We're there for you. Rich or poor, straight or gay, black or white or brown, urban or rural, pious or atheist, American-born or foreign-born, able-bodied or living with a disability. Every person in this country should have the same basic rights. And since our founding in 1920, we've been working hard to make sure no one takes them away.”

civil rights--a term whose meaning is very similar to civil liberties, but with different connotations and focus on discrimination. In the United States, in the last 140 years, it has often referred to the rights granted African Americans (by the 13th and 14th Amendments) and somewhat negated by Jim Crow laws in the south. A highlight of the so-called civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s was the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Other minorities have faced similar battles with mixed results. Women (hardly a minority in numbers!) saw efforts to enact the Equal Rights Amendment fail, while activity on behalf of the handicapped bore fruit in 1990 with passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act.  Efforts on behalf of gays and lesbians recognizing same sex marriages continue.

cult -- those who believe in the dogma and practice the rituals set forth by a charismatic founder or promulgator of something that is supposedly worth believing in.

debt bondage--someone's labor is promised as payment for a loan. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the system brought many to the New World as indentured servants.  In its most notorious modern form, a child's labor is pledged by parents as payment for debts they contract.

democracy -- government by the people, typically controlled by majority vote of the people as a whole, as opposed to government controlled by a particular class, group, or individual.  Democracies can be direct--where citizens' votes directly make decisions--or representative--where citizens elect individuals to politically lead and represent them in a legislature with those representatives casting votes on their behalf.  Direct democracy is the type practiced in Athens, Greece nearly 2500 years ago.  It is perhaps better suited for governing smaller institutions (communes, workplaces, communities, cities)--although ballot issues decided in recent California referendum elections provide an example of its large scale application. Use of referendums also illustrates that representative democracies sometimes allow the people to directly decide certain matters.  A democratic government where a constitution guarantees individual rights and civil liberties, along with providing a legal framework, is known as a liberal democracy.

development -- the process of improving the quality of human life, especially in poor countries. Besides targeting raising people’s standard of living, increasing their freedom (in terms of choices available to them) and creating conditions allowing for the growth of their self esteem are major development goals.

discrimination-- prejudicial treatment of people based on their being different (in race, religion, appearance, ability, etc.)  In some jurisdictions certain forms of discrimination are outlawed; elsewhere they can lead to policies and practices that harm particular groups. 

dogmatic belief -- a belief that is firmly held based on the authority of others, but is actually incompatible with existing facts or based on faulty premises or reasoning.

domestic violence–occurs when one person in a relationship (or family) attempts to control or dominate–either physically or psychologically–the other (or another family member).  The forms it can take range from continual emotionally abusive name-calling / putdowns to sexual / physical assault.  Estimates of the % of woman who report being physically abused by an intimate partner vary by country--ranging from 10% to nearly 70%.  In the USA, according to 2017 CDC data, over 50% of all female deaths by homicides were perpetrated by intimate partners—98% of which were men. While socially unacceptable in western countries, elsewhere there is widespread support  for the belief that a husband can be justified in hitting or beating his wife.  Indeed,  in a UNICEF survey,  between 80 % to 90% of women in some countries between ages 15 to 49 polled agreed with this. In one country (Tajikistan) 48% of those women agreed that the woman’s refusal to have sex with him provided such justification.  In the USA, a National Domestic Violence hotline (1-800-799-7233) offers  help to victims.   

egalitarianism -- the belief that all human beings should have the same rights, opportunities and privileges.

enfranchise--to grant rights of citizenship to, such as the right to vote

evil, the problem of -- this problem has plagued philosophers at least as far back as the ancient Greeks. Epicurus (341-270 BC) appears to be the first to consider it at some length. Simply put, it has two aspects, one religious, one secular, that can themselves be stated as questions, First, why does an all powerful, all knowing God allow evil to exist in the world? Second, how should society fight human’s wicked and evil acts -- won’t fighting them with evil (violence, vengeance, capital punishment, etc) just result in more evil? Those who embrace non-violence, forgiveness, and oppose capital punishment basically feel that good can not come out of evil. Others argue that if evil is left unchecked and unpunished, and not countered with strong action, then more evil will result.

evil, the problem of  and how various religions handle it –Christianity--from the Bible's book of Job onward, it recognizes there is a problem; Islam --Evil, pain, and suffering is not a problem: it is a fact of Allah's creation.  And Allah does not owe man any explanations...As the holy Qu'ran (4: 78) puts it: "Whatever good befalleth thee, O man, it is from GOD; and whatever evil befalleth thee, it is from thyself."; Hinduism-- "For Hindu thought, there is no Problem of Evil.  The conventional, relative world is necessarily a world of opposites.  Light is inconceivable apart from darkness; order is meaningless without disorder; and likewise...pleasure without pain." (Alan Watts in The Spirit of Zen);  Buddhism--Buddhists use the existence of evil as a reason not to believe in God as a benevolent, loving Creator.  As the Bodhisattva sings, "If the creator of the world entire they call God, of every being be the Lord, why prevail deceit, lies and ignorance and he such inequity and injustice create?  If the creator of the world entire they call God, of every human being be the Lord, then an evil master is he, (O Aritta) knowing what’s right did let wrong prevail! (from Bhuridatta Jataka)  

fatalism, poverty and responsibility -- There appears to be a link between the prevalence of belief in fatalism and living in poverty. It has been suggested that some poor people become resigned to their poverty and feel that no matter what they do, since they were destined to be poor, they can’t escape it. An important realization, that many who have worked with helping people get off welfare have had, is that escaping welfare / poverty begins with taking personal responsibility. This is consistent with believing people have free will and that confronting the issue of whether to take personal responsibility is unavoidable. On the other hand, a poor person who is fatalistic, when asked to take personal responsibility, might reply, “No one is ever free, so taking personal responsibility is meaningless”.

feminism -- associated with believing in the equal treatment of men and women, and supporting activities conducted to further the cause of women’s rights. Beginning with (successful) efforts to win women the right to vote (suffrage) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, decades later a second wave of  feminism linked long perceived political inequalities with cultural inequalities.  A big part of this was the women's liberation movement of the late 1960s and 1970s--which encouraged women to see how aspects of the male dominated societal power structure played out in their personal lives.  Feminists critique gender roles in sociocultural fashion (see that term.) 

fetter--to chain, shackle, restrain

First Amendment impermissible speech —examples of speech that courts have upheld is not protected by this amendment to the USA constitution include that which is hurtful to others-- including threatening, leading to imminent violence or law-breaking, libel, slander, blackmailing--obscene, including child pornography, and perjury (giving false testimony under oath).

First Amendment Rights -- refers to the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution which guarantees freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, and right of petition.

freedom of the press & speech–something a government can grant its citizens and news / media organizations–believed to be a prerequisite for democracy.  Thomas Jefferson underscored the importance of a free press by saying, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."  More recently the United Nations enshrined this–along with freedom of speech–as a basic human right, proclaiming, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers."  This language, from The UN Universal Declaration  of Human Rights, has been amended to include that exercising this right carries “special duties and responsibilities” and “may therefore be subject to certain restrictions…[f]or respect of the rights or reputation of others…or the protection of national security or of public order…or of public health or morals.”

Geneva Conventions--from an 1864 beginning, to major revisions / additions of 1949, and including subsequent amendments, these international agreements form the basis for humanitarian treatment of prisoners and non-combatants during war.  Among other things, they outlaw intentional killing and torture, and along with other agreements define war crimes. 

genocide -- the deliberate, systematic mass slaughter of an ethnic, political or cultural group. 20th century examples of genocide include the Nazi perpetrated slaughter of Jews during World War II, and slaughters in Armenia, Cambodia and Rwanda.

happiness and suffering -- Dostoevsky wrote, “Without suffering, happiness cannot be understood”. In equating Hell with “the suffering of being unable to love”, he again links these two concepts in an extreme sense, with love representing some extreme state of happiness, Hell a place of extreme suffering.

human rights--are defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law." Some equate human rights with natural rights--notably expounded upon by English philosopher John Locke whose thinking inspired the American founding fathers. These rights are said to be "inalienable" and beyond the authority of government or society to trample. The outrageous human rights violations of the World War II era are often cited as inspiring the founding of the United Nations in 1945.  In its charter, the UN asks all member nations to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights."

Human Rights Council--a United Nations agency established in 2006 whose purpose is to address human rights violations. It replaced the older UN Commission on Human Rights. 

human rights struggles--what a particular minority or group discriminated against has to go through to finally win rights or be granted concessions / accommodations by the majority. In this regard in American history we can note struggles for 1) an end to slavery, 2) Native American tribal survival, 3) immigrants' rights, 4) women's rights, 5) worker's rights, 6) child labor laws, 7) rights for the mentally ill, 8) an end to segregation, 9) civil rights, 10) affirmative action, 11) farm worker rights, 12) rights for handicapped people, 13) gay and lesbian rights, etc.

illiterate -- inability to read and write due to lack of education, either because of lack of opportunity or motivation, not because of physical or mental defects.

immigration issues -- Relatively high paying jobs in developed countries attract workers from less developed countries. So workers migrate -- both legally and illegally. In recent years, many of those who migrate legally are highly educated and skilled -- the very workers that poor countries can ill afford to lose. The great majority of these migrants move permanently and thus constitute a brain drain on the less developed countries. Illegal immigrants generally are not so skilled and tend to fit into jobs that natives find unattractive -- as agricultural laborers, construction workers, in food processing plants, as motel maids, groundskeepers, etc. They provide a huge source of labor -- a Pew Research survey put this pool of 8 million workers at 5% of the total U.S. workforce -- typically at the bottom of the wage scale. Despite their demonstrated role in western economies, many perceive these illegal workers as taking jobs away from poor, unskilled native workers. And many complain about the benefits illegal immigrants receive in the form of free local health care, education, social services, etc -- although the taxes paid by these workers adds up to a substantial amount (a recent U.S. survey put their annual social security payments at $13 billion, payments for which they receive no benefits!). In fact, many illegal immigrants in the US live in fear of deportation and are unable to assert their claims to human rights denied them.  Complicating the movement of people across international borders are security / terrorism concerns

impermissible speech -- Within countries that value freedom of speech, nonetheless this freedom has its limits. Impermissible speech refers to speech that is not tolerated because it is harmful to either particular individuals or the larger society as a whole. Screaming “Fire!” in a crowded theater when there is no fire is a common textbook example.

indigenous people–in 2004, the United Nations provided the following definition: "Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them.  They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system." By 2020, the World Bank estimated there were 476 million indigenous people worldwide in over 90 countries.  

indigenous people rights, from UN Declaration—these two articles were adopted on 9/13/2007: article #11: “. Indigenous peoples have the right to practice and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs.  This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artifacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies, and visual and performing arts and literature.” And article #12 “. Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice, develop and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains”

International Criminal Court -- an international "court of last resort" set up in 2002 to prosecute people who have committed genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

intellectual property / cultural rights--refer to an individual claiming ownership and associated exclusive benefits for works / products he or she has created or a whole culture making similar claims when outsiders seek to benefit from their cultural heritage.

justice -- implementing what is just, defined in various ways as being reasonable, proper, lawful, right, fair, deserved, merited, etc. For some, justice is intimately connected with fairness, a connection with three dimensions: equal treatment, the degree to which exercising freedom and liberty is to be allowed, and reward for contributing to the common good .

law: civil vs. criminal--the former refers to the means by which individual rights are protected, the latter with offenses that harm (or potentially could harm) the entire community. In civil cases the responsibility for demonstrating harm and seeking remedy lies with the individual affected; in criminal cases the state must pursue violators and seek remedy--which may be imprisonment.

law: private vs. public--the former involves relationships between individuals (including corporations), the latter with issues involving the state and welfare of society (including penal law, and regulatory statutes, etc.)

liberalism–a rational, tolerant, generous, hopeful orientation that emphasizes individual freedom from restraint. Liberalism is often associated with progressive social change.     A July 2020 oped in The Economist summarized it as follows: “Liberalism thrives on a marketplace of ideas, so diversity has a vital role. Liberalism does not fight power with power, which risks replacing one abusive regime with another. Instead it uses facts and evidence, tested in debate, to help the weak take on the strong. Liberalism is all about progress, including putting right its mistakes—and there have been many, especially over race , including finding reasons to accommodate imperialism and slavery. That is one reason why, in the 250 years in which it has been influential, humanity has seen unprecedented material, scientific, and political gains, as well as extension of social and political rights.”

liberty principle--from moral theory, a principle that states that seeking liberty for oneself with someone else’s freedom in mind takes moral precedence over seeking such liberty that leads to the loss of liberty or freedom for someone else. 

literal interpretation of sacred texts as God’s divine word, problems with--     1) internal contradictions; 2) translation errors; 3) scientific errors or contradictions with modern  scientific findings; 4) historical errors or contradictions with non-religious primary historical sources; 5) unity of style that would suggest a single author (God) is often lacking; 6) certain passages seemingly condone behavior that universal moral principles condemn  (see slavery and Christianity

master -- a derogatory term that refers to an individual or group -- historically often associated with a man or men -- who dominates and controls another person or group of people, and to some extent exercises authority that keeps those subject to it in a submissive state of servitude.

noble savage view of human nature -- the belief that people, if they lived in a natural state away from the corrupting influence of social institutions, are fundamentally peaceful, co-operative, and altruistically concerned with each other’s well being -- not aggressively greedy, acquisitive, competitive and merely out to advance their own self interest. This view was popularized by 18th century French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau.

paternalism -- a system in which adults are treated in a fatherly way like children, with their conduct regulated and their needs met. Typically in exchange for this care, the authority expects loyalty and that those receiving the care will accept their relinquishing of personal control.

political prisoner--a person who is detained or imprisoned by a national government because his or her political views are in opposition to the government's, and accordingly the person is viewed as a threat.  Sometimes there will be no legal basis for the imprisonment, others times the government will fabricate incriminating evidence and use it to justify its action. While many famous people have been political prisoners, countless others have died anonymously under such confinement.  Amnesty International maintains lists of political prisoners and for a small number,  works for their release.

pornography and restricting creative expression -- pornography refers to anything that depicts erotic behavior in a way to cause sexual excitement. Many argue that pornography should be protected under laws guaranteeing free speech and creative expression. They rail against laws restricting it, characterizing what is being banned as either (at best) merely artistic expression or (at worse) merely a victimless crime. Others argue that display of pornography should be restricted -- in some cases banned entirely -- because it is harmful to society in the following ways: 1) it leads to increases in sex crimes, 2) it is degrading to women, and 3) it perverts the normal sexual development of children.

prisoner--a person deprived of liberty and confined to a prison, usually for violating the law

prison population, racially skewed representation—Reflecting on the USA situation, a mid 2020 The Economist op-ed states: “A third of black boys born in 2001will probably spend time locked up, compared with one in seventeen white boys.” 

prostitution, forced--a form of sexual slavery in which someone is forced into working as a prostitute.  Poor women in developing countries are often required by extreme poverty to sell their bodies, or lured into the sex trade by false promises (sometimes of a good job in an affluent country) and are unable to escape.

privacy rights–protection against unauthorized invasion of privacy is guaranteed in some countries. Right to privacy is part of various legal traditions that seek to restrain those—either government or private entities—that threaten the privacy of individuals

refuge--a safe, protected, sheltering place 

refugee-- a person who has crossed national boundaries and fled his or her home, typically due to conflict,  disaster  or otherwise unsafe conditions, and is living elsewhere—often in refugee camps.  By 2020 the  number of such displaced people worldwide was greater than at any time since World War II—approaching 30 million.  

reparation--payment to rectify some past unfortunate occurrence; see entry below

reparations for slavery—seeking political justice and to right past wrongs, many argue that descendents of slaves—most notably those of African descent—should be paid to compensate the group to which they belong for impaired economic development, lost opportunity, etc.

rights of unborn children—the issue, made important by the pro-life movement, of what rights do unborn children have, and when do they have them.  Pro-lifers argue that such rights—the most fundamental being the right to life--begin with the beginning of life, which they equate with the moment of conception.  Others argue that fetuses have rights—this stage of development begins about eight weeks after conception when the body’s major structures and organs have formed.  Still others won’t grant developing fetuses rights until they have reached the point where they are viable outside the uterus—generally after 25 weeks or so.

same sex marriage--an arrangement in which two people of the same sex live together as a family.  Controversy surrounds organized efforts to ban such marriages, extend to them the same legal rights that heterosexual marriages get, or something in between.  Civil unions or domestic partnerships fall in this last category, in which partners enjoy some but not all of the benefits of marriage.  

servitude -- the general lack of liberty to do as one pleases

slave morality— according to Nietzsche it values “qualities which serve to alleviate the existence of sufferers,” including the desire for freedom, being useful, reticent, good natured and easily hoodwinked.  He blasted Christian meekness, its “will to perish” and hope for a better life in the beyond, and felt traditional religions were “props to the slave morality.” See slavery and Christianity. 

slavery--describes the status of certain people who have been stripped of the basic human right of freedom of movement, denied certain liberties, and are sometimes subjected to degrading and / or exhausting work.  In being held against their will, they are typically considered (by their captors) to be the property of other individuals.  While many western governments outlawed the institution in the nineteenth century, it continues both within and outside the law throughout the world.  By some estimates, worldwide millions of people (mostly children) live in conditions that essentially represent slavery. 

slavery and Christianity—Some, including some in the pre-Civil War USA South, have used words in the Old Testament Bible book of Genesis spoken by Noah: “Cursed be Canaan. The lowest of slaves will be his brothers” to justify using black Africans (thought by Christians to be descendents of Ham, the son of Canaan) as slaves.  While during Christianity’s earliest years as an accepted religion slavery was an integral part of the Roman Empire, by the fourth century CE prominent Christians began speaking out about its evils.  St. Augustine (354 –430) saw it as resulting from son and against God’s will.  St. Patrick (390-460) came to Ireland as a slave.  Remembered today for bringing Christianity to Ireland,  Patrick is credited with being the first person to speak out unequivocally against slavery.  When he railed against this "crime so horrible and unspeakable" he was perhaps recalling his own six years of suffering in bondage.  He especially empathized with women captives.  His efforts brought slavery in Ireland to an end. 

social justice—refers to 1) a relationship between individuals and society in which people have what is just, defined in various ways as being reasonable, proper, lawful, right, fair, deserved, merited, etc; 2) if the condition described above does not exist, then taking steps to make it so. In practice, in affluent Western societies, seeking social justice is concerned with seeking a fairer distribution of wealth and privilege, equal opportunity for all, ending unfair discrimination or exclusion, and providing a safety net for the especially vulnerable. It can also involve recognizing / rewarding those who contribute to the common good more than those who behave in more self-serving fashion.

solitary confinement--a form of imprisonment, generally reserved for prisoners who pose the greatest threat to society, in which the prisoner is denied contact with other people.  Proponents point out that such confinement gives society additional protection from these dangerous individuals; critics label it as "cruel and unusual punishment" (outlawed by the eighth amendment to US Constitution) given the strain that associated sensory deprivation can put on mental health. 

terrorist--one who engages in terrorism, another one of those difficult to define terms since "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter".  Most definitions of terrorism include 1) use of force / violence, 2) such acts are designed to instill fear / terror, and 3) political / ideological goals are behind these acts.  Some definitions also stress that the acts are unlawful and that innocent civilians are indiscriminately targeted.   

theocracy -- government by those who claim to or are believed to be divinely inspired. In its most extreme forms, there is no separation of church and state.

torture -- severe pain is inflicted on someone in an effort to intimidate, get information from, revenge some past wrong, punish, deter, or simply to be cruel and sadistic. 

transformative justice–rather than imprisoning and punishing, it focuses on educating and transforming offenders and correcting the root causes / societal conditions behind offenses.  In a broader sense it provides an opportunity for healing / peacemaking that victims can also sometimes benefit from

underdevelopment --a socioeconomic situation in which people’s standard of living, freedom (in terms of choices available to them) self esteem and hope for the future is seriously and persistently depressed.