Helping to safeguard the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.
Khalil Gibran
“Helping to safeguard the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.” (Khalil Gibran)
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When human rights are violated, not only are individuals discriminated against in terms of being excluded from receiving benefits and opportunities that others commonly enjoy, but they are denied their dignity as human beings by not being recognized and valued in terms of their distinctive individual and social identities.
Violating human rights punishes people by stripping them of the positive evaluation they are entitled to as individuals, as too often occurs when it comes to the discriminatory treatment of racial, religious, and ethnic minorities, women, refugees, and political dissidents, etc.
There is something especially ennobling about helping people to defend and restore their dignity, a hallmark human quality that is affirmed when their basic human rights are acknowledged and honored.
“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” (Nelson Mandela)
“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.” (Elie Wiesel)
Getting Personal
Have you ever personally experienced the denial of a human right? If yes, what was it, and how were you able, if at all, to overcome it?
