Essay 7 on Christianity and Universal Human Rights

It is important to realize here that this paper is normally the one where people get the lowest grade.  Why is this?  

First, students have problems with this assignment because they assume that their own personal experience of the Christian faith is typical of global Christianity.  This is why we have had so much conversation from the very start about the various cultures to which we belong.  Our personal experience of our faith is deeply shaped by the culture where we are at home.  If you went to a Christian church in Africa, or in Eastern Europe, or in a predominantly Roman Catholic country, you would see a very different cultural experience from what we often find here in Eastern North Carolina.  We need to understand at the start that faith and culture are connected.  The whole question about universal human rights is all about how our different cultures treat one another.   

Second, students have difficulty with this assignment because they assume that the Christian faith has always embraced universal human rights.  Unfortunately this has not always been the case, and there are many Christian fellowships today that aggressively deny human rights to certain populations.  The best way to see this is to look at the way different churches in different places treat marginalized populations.  "Marginalized" refers to those people who are not at the center of power, influence, and social status within the culture where they are at home.  Many Christian churches have a real problem effectively reaching out to marginalized populations.  

The third reason people get low grades on this essay is because they have not yet gained a good understanding of the key vocabulary.  The following is a repeat of material I have already circulated.  I am repeating it because it is important that you understand it.  

To get ready for this short essay, make sure that you understand the words in bold print.   

When looking at the issues of human rights in all of the Western monotheistic religions the thing we want to remember and to emphasize is the tension between premodern and postmodern forms of faith.  Premodern faith tends to be more fundamental in its social expression.  In fundamental religious cultures, people want to go back to a time when they think things were better than they are now.  This sometimes means that they want to reach back to the comforts and simplicity of cultural exclusion.  This in turn can limit their interest in improving universal human rights.  In some cases this tendency toward cultural exclusion can result in violations of human rights. 

For Christianity, the basic tension is between culturally fixed, fundamentalist churches, and more secular/humanistic postmodern forms of faith.  The more fundamental forms of Christianity tend to be more socially isolated and less interested in human rights issues in a general or global sense.  This is especially the case with attitudes toward marginalized populations.  The more secular and humanistic (postmodern) forms of Christianity tend to be much more active in the promotion of universal human rights.  What you want to do in composing your essay is to look for specific examples of these general observations.    

When we study Islam in the next few weeks, we will see the same basic tension between premodern (fundamental) religious expressions and secular, humanistic (postmodern) forms of faith. 

As usual, you need to make sure that you use proper works cited, especially for the supporting documents.  Always do the assigned reading.  Finally, let me know if you have any questions or encounter any problems along the way.