With Love There Is No Need For Rights
Anytime you study morality, you end up talking about
what is wrong and right. However, our
lesson begins with this quote:
“People love to talk
about “human rights.” From the Magna Carta (1215) to the French Declaration of
the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) to various United Nations
declarations, the idea is promoted that human beings possess certain
“inalienable rights,” rights that no one can rightfully take away from us. They
are ours by virtue of being human (at least that’s how the theory goes).
The questions remain:
What are these rights? How are we to determine what they are? Can these rights
change, and if so, how so? Why should we, as humans, have these rights, anyway?
In some countries, for
instance, women were not given the “right” to vote until the twentieth century
(some nations still deny it). How, though, can a government grant to people
something that is their “unalienable right” to begin with?
Hard questions, and
their answers are inseparably linked to the question of human origins, the
study for this week’s lesson.”
I believe the premise here is that if I am moral I
will do what is right; therefore I will respect other people’s rights. Conversely, if I am immoral, then I will do
what is wrong; therefore I will infringe on someone’s right. The appearance of this concept of having
rights came to be in order to prevent abuses.
Indeed, this concept of human rights appeared when it was common for
only royalty, nobility and clergy to have rights. Everyone else was at the mercy of the
royalty, nobility and clergy. These
believed that it was a God given right to be above everyone else. So, they ruled every aspect of lower classes
lives. So, the most heinous abuses were
committed under this ruling system.
The solution to this was to create these documents
with edicts to be followed by all regarding how others should be treated. This curtailed the far reach of influence
over the people’s lives by the ruling classes.
Everyone was free to make their own choices according to their own
conscience. Among others, Freedom of
religion, of thought, of expression were guaranteed by these documents. So, laws are created to protect those
rights. Which means that we have also a
list of duties to make sure others rights are not violated. These laws may not guarantee your rights immediately,
but it can guarantee that the one whose rights have been violated can be heard
and awarded reparations for the damage done by the violators. These laws that protect are externally imposed. And, when anyone breaks them they are
penalized.
However, there are three issues laws cannot deal
with. One, the law cannot heal the
pain. When the rights of someone are
infringed it comes as a result of some kind of abuse. The victim’s 1st concern is the
pain caused by the abuse not the infringed right. While man’s law can punish the victimizer, it
cannot heal the pain. That only happens
through grieving. Also, the law cannot
cause reconciliation. Lastly, more often
than not when the right infringer is punished he is not really sorry for what
he did. He is sorry that he was caught
and angry to pay the punishment. His
heart is not changed. And, for
reconciliation to happen you need two things: a person that has repented and
asks for forgiveness, and a person that forgives. Both victim and victimizer need a change of
heart.
The Bible talks about a change of heart; God’s law
and scripture written in our hearts and minds (Romans 12: 2; Jeremiah 31: 33). So, what man’s law seeks to impose becomes
natural to man. I will not abuse my
fellow human being because God’s love permeates my heart. It is not because my fellow human being has
rights, but because God’s love moves me to put others first and have mercy and
compassion on them. When I act with
mercy and compassion the rights of others do not matter, I will treat them
right regardless. My rights will not
matter either. To put others first I
give up my right.
That is what Christ
did. As Paul exhorts us to follow Christ’s
example he describes how Jesus gave up every right, without denying any good to
anyone. We read in Philippians 2: 3 - 8,
Phi 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Phi 2:4 Look not every
man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Phi 2:5 Let this mind be
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Phi 2:6 Who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Phi 2:7 But made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men:
Phi 2:8 And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross.
Jesus did nothing on His own, only what the Father
ordained (John 5: 30; 6: 38). And, at
times when He could have asked the Father to rescue Him, Jesus held His peace. Consider what Christ told Peter after Peter
cut a young man’s ear, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew
26:53). For Christ, others came
first. Not because they had rights, but
because He loved them.
