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Notes for Universal Declaration of Human RightsRobert Traer* 1 François Refoulé, "Efforts made on behalf of the Supreme Authority of the Church," in The Church and the Rights of Man, ed. Alois Müller and Norbert Greinacher (New York: The Seabury Press, 1979), 78.2 Ibid.3 Philip Potter, "Religious Liberty—A Global View," Journal of Ecumenical Studies 14, no. 4 (Fall 1977):125 [693].4 O. Frederick Nolde, Free and Equal: Human Rights in Ecumenical Perspective (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1968), 18.5 Ibid., 20.6 Ibid.7 Ibid., 22.8 See Joseph M. Proskauer, A Segment of My Times (New York: Farrar, Straus and Company, 1950).9 Archives of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, "Human Rights Varia 1945-1968," 428.3.25, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland.10 Edward Duff, S.J., The Social Thought of the World Council of Churches (New York: Association Press, 1980), 276-77. Quoted in O. Frederick Nolde, Free and Equal, 25.11 Ibid., 28.12 Ibid., 29.13 Ibid., 33.14 See CCIA Archives, "Human Rights" and "UN International Bill of Human Rights, 1947-1948," 428.3.24, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland. In addition to those in the United States and Europe, the CCIA corresponded with church leaders from the Methodist Mission in Portuguese East Africa and the Methodist Overseas Mission in Fiji, Pyramid House in Cairo, the Christian Council of Kenya, and groups in the Union of South Africa, Australia, China, India, Iraq, Lebanon, and New Zealand.15 O. Frederick Nolde, Free and Equal, 38. Representatives of other religious traditions presented similar arguments. In 1947 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States submitted "A Baha'i Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights." Mary Ellen Togtman-Wood, "Prerequisites to Human Rights: A Baha'i Perspective," Breakthrough 10, nos. 2-3 (Winter/Spring 1989):41-42.16 Quoted in Man's Disorder and God's Design, 4, 148 in The Amsterdam Assembly series, 5 vols., ed. W. A. Visser 't Hooft (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949), and in Paul Bock, In Search of a Responsible World Society: The Social Teachings of the World Council of Churches (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1974), 66.17 O. Frederick Nolde, Free and Equal, 38.18 O. Frederick Nolde, "The United Nations Acts for Human Rights," release by the American Committee for the World Council of Churches, in the Michigan Christian Advocate, 30 December 1948, CCIA Archives, "UN International Bill of Human Rights, 1947-1948," 428.3.24, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland.19 Ibid.20 Seán MacBride, "The Universal Declaration—Thirty Years After," in Understanding Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary and Interfaith Study, ed. Alan D. Falconer (Dublin: Irish School of Ecumenics, 1980), 9. See Philippe de le Chapelle, La Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l'Homme et le Catholicisme (Paris: Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1967).21 Rita Hauser, "The Dream and Its Deceptions," in Essays on Human Rights: Contemporary Rights and Jewish Perspectives, ed. David Sidorsky (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979), 22.22 "Human Rights Bill is Voted by United Nations Committee," subtitled "Mrs. Roosevelt Acclaims It as 'Moral and Spiritual' Milestone for the World," New York Herald Tribune, 7 December 1948, CCIA Archives, "Human Rights Varia 1945-1968", 428.3.25, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland. Max L. Stackhouse describes the drafting of the Universal Declaration as the "political appropriation of human rights as a creed" and asserts: "Not since the pre-Reformation councils had such an assemblage of national representatives attempted to define what is universally valid as a creed for all." Stackhouse, Creeds, Society, and Human Rights: A Study in Three Cultures (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984), 104. For a brief summary of the development of the Universal Declaration see Peter Mayer, "How the International Bill of Rights Was Born," Breakthrough 10, nos. 2-3 (Winter/Spring 1989):16-17, excerpted from The International Bill of Human Rights (Glen Ellen, Calif.: Entwhistle Books, 1981).23 "Vatican Hits U. N. Group," subtitled "Assails Omission of God's Name in Human Rights Draft," 31 October 1948. CCIA Archives, "Human Rights Varia 1945-1965," 428.3.25, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland.24 "Reflections by Cardinal Maurice Roy on the Occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the Encyclical 'Pacem in Terris' of Pope John XXIII (11 April 1973)," in The Gospel of Peace and Justice: Catholic Social Teaching since Pope John, ed. Joseph Gremillion (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1976), 540.25 Stanley I. Stuber, Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Your Community (New York: National Board of Young Men's Christian Associations, 1968), 5.26 Justice in the World, no. 64, in The Gospel of Peace and Justice, 88. In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, John Paul II acknowledges the positive influence of the Universal Declaration in promoting respect for human rights. "Encyclical Letter of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II: Sollicitudo Rei Socialis," L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 29 February 1988, 6.27 José Míguez Bonino, "Religious Commitment and Human Rights: A Christian Perspective," in Understanding Human Rights, 32.28 Robert F. Smylie, "Christianity and Human Rights: A View from the United States," Breakthrough 10, nos. 2-3 (Winter/Spring 1989):37. He goes on to claim that the Universal Declaration "should make us realize that every violation of human rights that persists, be it civil, political, economic or social, is a violation of the right of the Creator to the Creation, and a violation of his Son, the Redeemer, who is identified with and in all, and whose love encompasses all."29 Riffat Hassan, "On Human Rights and the Qur'anic Perspective," in Human Rights in Religious Traditions, ed. Arlene Swidler (New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1982), 53. Munzer Anabtawi asserted on 21 July 1987 at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France that the "Draft Charter on Human and People's Rights in the Arab World" drew upon the "common standards" of the Universal Declaration as well as the international human rights covenants. Notes of author.30 In Understanding Human Rights, 237.31 "Carta de Santiago" (Charter of Santiago), 25 November 1978, in Human Rights: A Challenge to Theology (Rome: CCIA and IDOC International, 1983), 59. See John F. Dearden, "The Modern Quest for Human Rights," in Human Rights and the Liberation of Man in the Americas, ed. Louis M. Colonnese (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1970), 3-12.32 IARF World, no. 2 (1989):12.33 "The Princeton Declaration," 3rd assembly of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, Church and Society 71 (November/December 1980-January/February 1981):37-39.34 In Religious Liberty and Human Rights in Nations and in Religions, ed. Leonard Swidler (Philadelphia: Ecumenical Press, Temple University, 1986), 246.35 Isaac Lewin, Ten Years of Hope: Addresses before the United Nations (New York: Shengold Publishers, 1971).36 Shimon Shetreet, "Freedom of Conscience and Religion in Israel," in Essays on Human Rights: Contemporary Rights and Jewish Perspectives, ed. David Sidorsky (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979), 180.37 "The Gospel and the Aymara People," in Human Rights: A Challenge to Theology, 84. As noted earlier, the Salvation Army affirms the Universal Declaration. See Human Rights and the Salvation Army (London: The Campfield Press, 1968), 23.38 "Declaration on Human Rights and Social Justice," in Exchange, Bulletin of Third World Christian Literature 12, no. 45 (December 1986):39-40.39 "A Declaration of Human Rights by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan," in Asian Christian Theology: Emerging Themes, ed. Douglas J. Elwood (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1980), 330.40 Ibid., 331.41 Masahiko Kurata, executive secretary of the National Christian Council of Japan's Center for Christian Response to Asian Issues, "Asian Perspective—Human Rights—a Western Standard?" Asia Lutheran News 3 (May-June 1985):11.42 "Human Rights: Their Basis and Their Protection," CCA News 22, no. 2 (15 February 1987):4.43 Fali S. Narman, "Human Rights in India—Recent Trends," in Recent Trends in Human Rights, ed. Lawasia Human Rights Standing Committee (Sydney: Law Association for Asia and the Western Pacific, 1981?), 1. He argues that even poor Indians support universal values and relates a story told by Mother Teresa of a destitute woman in Calcutta who, though without food for her family for three days, shared the meager ration given to her with other families in need. If, as Mother Teresa asserts, the right to live is the most fundamental of all human rights, the poor are concerned with the protection of this right not only for themselves but also for others.44 Ibid.45 Fali S. Narman, "Protecting the Rights of Minorities in Society," in Studie-en Informatiecentrum Mensenrechten Special 5 (Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, February 1985), 43. See Seminar on National, Local and Regional Arrangements for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Asian Region (New York: UN, 1982).46 See H. J. C. Princen, "Access to Justice," in Access to Justice: Human Struggles in South East Asia, ed. Harry M. Scoble and Laurie S. Wiseberg (London: Zed Books, 1985), 80 and 81; Asmi Khalid, "Law and the Decline of Freedom in Malaysia," in Access to Justice, 97; Participatory Research and Organization of Communities through Educational and Self-Help Services, Inc. (PROCES), "Human Rights Activism in Relation to Landless Rural Workers in the Philippines," in Human Rights Activism in Asia: Some Perspectives, Problems, and Approaches (New York: Council on International and Public Affairs, June 1984), 37 and 41; and Rajesware Kanniah, "Perceptions of Human Rights Activism," in Human Rights Activism in Asia, 48.47 Azmi Khalid, "Law and the Decline of Freedom in Malaysia," in Access to Justice, 92.48 Indonesia, Malayasia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Brunei Darassalem are represented in ASEAN. See "Declaration of the Basic Duties of ASEAN Peoples and Governments," in Human Rights Sourcebook, ed. Albert P. Blaustein, Roger S. Clark, Jay S. Sigler (N.Y.: Paragon House Publishers, 1987), 646-57.49 Scoble and Wiseberg, Access to Justice, 206-07.50 Dom Helder Camara comments on several articles of the Universal Declaration in "Human Rights and the Liberation of Man in the Americas: Reflections and Responses," in Human Rights and the Liberation of Man in the Americas, 259-268.51 Walter Harrelson, The Ten Commandments and Human Rights (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980), xv.52 Ibid., 190.53 Ibid.54 Ibid., 192.55 Ibid., 192-193. Erich Weingärtner suggests that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a modern "Ten Commandments" in that it is "an easily understood standard of conduct whose respect alone already constituted in large part its fulfillment." Weingärtner, Human Rights on the Ecumenical Agenda: Report and Assessment (Geneva: CCIA, World Council of Churches, 1983), 10.56 Ibid., 193. Ibid., 193.57 David Hollenbach, Justice, Peace, and Human Rights: American Catholic Social Ethics in a Pluralistic Context (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1988), 113. From Faith in Human Rights: Support in Religious Traditions for a Global Struggle (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1991).
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