Robert Traer, in his book Faith in Human Rights: Support in Religious Traditions for a Global Struggle, expresses an "audacious faith" (221) that the religions of the world can unite in their fight for human rights. There is no doubt, as Traer makes clear in his survey of world religions in respect to rights, that each of those religions does, in fact, have a tradition which declares the sanctity of human rights. The question is whether the peoples and nations which practice those religions implement that tradition, and, if they do implement it, whether there is any realistic expectation that they can unite with one another to practically fight for rights on an international level. It is the view of this reviewer that Traer's hope is a noble but unrealistic one. The differences among the various religions, and the social, cultural, economic and political complications which are introduced when the ideals of religion are grounded in actual human and national affairs, make the realization of Traer's hopes unlikely if not impossible. Leaders of nations may be devout in their faith, but when national interests and power struggles and historical enmities are introduced into the equation, too often those leaders' religious convictions are supplanted by more practical, selfish and less noble considerations. Even when political leaders do try to practice religious ideals in considering human rights worldly affairs. circumstances often intervene which prevent actual implementation of those ideals. All of these factors are obstacles in the realization of the hopes expressed by Traer.
This is not to say that some religious leaders cannot come to ecumenical agreements with respect to human rights, and with respect to plans for securing human rights in general, but the implementation of those plans in the real world will be far more difficult.
This is also not to say that the hopes of Traer are worthless, for they are not. Certainly, his u...