The strong have never been noted for their concern for the rights or the plights of the weak. Throughout the complex and varied history of the human race there is an impressive consensus among those who are able to dominate others that the interests of the rulers come first.
I am not denying that now and then there have been splendid examples of altruism. Every race has its stories of great men and women who selflessly served others, even at the expense of their own interests. I almost wrote “legends” instead of “stories.” For all too often this is not so much what happens as what we like to think happens. So we create our legends and try to persuade ourselves that they are fact.
It is therefore interesting that the United Nations has accepted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights; it is a document that sets forth some rights that even our cynical generation believes belong to every man. Of course, setting out these rights in a document and making them a reality in lands where oppression is rife are two quite different things. But at least the Declaration exists. It points to what we all like to think is being done throughout the world. And it is a document to which reformers can always appeal.
But in the years since 1949 we have all come to realize that signing a declaration and making its contents effective are not the same thing. Most nations are painfully aware that other nations are not doing what they should about human rights (though they manage to turn blind eyes to their own shortcomings).
The fact is that in the most egalitarian and idealistic of societies some people are more equal than others. And those who are by nature or position at the top of the heap all too often tend to pursue their own interests and neglect those of some others. We have come to be thankful for a state of affairs in which the powerful pursue their own ends only moderately. That they will pursue them we do not doubt, but we hope that they will not be so set on their own prosperity that they grind the rest of us into some form of bondage.
The Christian does not like all this—but he is not surprised. He accepts the doctrine of original sin; he is well aware that the flaw in human nature will always find an outlet. He thinks, perhaps, of the declaration of the rights of man adopted at the French Revolution when, we are told, only 4.3 million out of a population of some 27 million qualified for “the rights of citizens.” It was a magnificent document; but it was strictly limited by the way men interpreted it. Cannot men of every other nation think uncomfortably of the way those in power in their land have successfully eroded the “rights” of minorities, especially very weak minorities?
Christians must be deeply concerned about all this, for theirs is a faith that is the very antithesis of the fundamental selfishness that characterizes so much of modern society. They are people for whom another has died, a fact that is brought before them with emphasis in the New Testament they read, in the hymns they sing, and in the holy communion they share with other believers. To have been “crucified with Christ” means to have entered a life where selfishness, however refined, cannot be the rule. To take up one’s cross (Luke 9:23) means self-sacrifice, not self-promotion.
The bible does not have much use for grandiose expressions about human rights. It is much more concerned with actions. Thus Jeremiah can ask, “Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar?” He goes on, “Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well” (Jer. 22:15–16). There are always “poor and needy” who lack the means of claiming their rights, and there it is the task of the servant of God to do what he can for them.
It is sobering to reflect that in this supposedly enlightened age there are so many injustices. Christians are not surprised to find them in atheistic states or in countries led by fanatics. But in democracies where they might well expect something different there are still problems. In any complex state there is a bureaucracy, and bureaucrats often abuse their petty powers. Countries that profess all men to be equal before the law have been known to make a mockery of this by the expense of legal proceedings that can put the pursuit of just claims out of reach of all but the wealthy.
All this means that there is still a good deal of room for the Christian to find himself busy supporting the cause of “the poor and needy.” There is that in fallen human nature which will always oppress. And there is that in the servant of the Lord which will always support the weak.
But this is not easy. In addition to the opposition of oppressors there is the point to which Margaret Dewey directs attention: “The human rights movement is endangered by excesses not only of method but of claims. The word ‘rights’ is ‘applied to virtually any demand that one group makes on another’ ” (the last words she quotes from U.S. News & World Report). People easily come to imagine that they have a “right” to any good that they fancy. The Christian must not be credulous, easily taken in by any confident claim. He is to exercise discrimination in accordance with the question posed by his Lord: “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?” (Luke 12:57).
He is also to remember that the Bible says much more about exercising responsibility than claiming rights. I have been arguing that there are times, especially in this modern world, when the Christian must support those who are claiming rights. But he must also remember he is a responsible person and that he has many opportunities to exercise responsibility.
It is interesting that neither the prophets, nor Jesus, nor the Apostles, call on oppressed peoples to revolt. But they do often call on those in positions of power to repent and do right. It is easy in the modern world to think we have discharged our Christian duty when we have self-righteously condemned someone else’s disregard for human rights. It is harder to show respect for the rights of others in our own lives day by day.
Western Christians are usually in positions of privilege in comparison with the general situation of men today. They enjoy material comfort, stimulating fellowship with other Christians, freedom of worship, and much more. There is danger here. Christians must see their privileges not as rights to be claimed at all costs, but as opportunities for serving others. Of those to whom much has been given will much be required (Luke 12:48). Twentieth-century Western Christians have accordingly a heavy responsibility.
Leon Morris is principal of Ridley College, Victoria, Australia.
