World Religions and Human Rights
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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
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ife and our heritage, and renew faith within me. The Spirit, like the wind, "blows where it will." And so, despite the injustices and tragedies of our time, I continue to trust in the love of God (x-xi).
If there were no evidence that religions and religious leaders can come together to fight for human rights, Traer's hopes would not only be unrealistic but absurd. For if religious leaders cannot unite to at least express such hopes for the achievement of human rights, then it would be unlikely that lay individuals, religious or secular, could unite to express or realize such hopes. Traer declares the purpose of his book in this regard:
Within the major religious traditions of the world today there are many leaders who have embraced human rights is global, cutting across cultures as well as systems of belief and practice. How this has happened and what it might mean for our world is the subject of this investigation (1).
In other words, at least the basis for the realization of Traer's hopes are in place. He convincingly demonstrates in his book that the aspirations of religious and lay leaders have in fact borne fruit, specifically in such international agreements as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. However,
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Approximate Word count = 1564
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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