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Freedom to Live

We hear often the declaration that every person has the right to ‘right to life, liberty and security of person’ or ‘life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’. We agree that individuals have the right to live freely, safe and secure from coercion in a way that will bring about an enhanced quality (and quantity) of life. Freedom to live is freedom to choose and freedom to decline. It brings both personal rights and responsibilities. Nelson Mandela has said, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

For many freedom is elusive – the conditions of life just do not provide for freedom to naturally occur. For others who are careless about their rights, they can soon lose them if they do not work to protect them. And each one of us needs to check ourselves as to our commitment to giving others the same rights we have. Solzhenitsyn’s experience in the Gulag led him to write,

"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956).

Toni Morrison’s call to live well, and to live for others, resonates in this time of self absorption – "I tell my students;

When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.

Life is precious. Its value comes in living consciously and deliberately. To sleep walk through life, especially as a person with resources, and to fali to use them to give others the same rights and opportunities that we have, is to waste what we have been given. THoreai was thinking clearlyt when he spoke about life, and sated that ‘The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.’

Jesus talked about the value of individuals laying down their lives for others. For many of us, using our time and resources is the least we can do.

 

19 September

A balanced decision on religous accommodation in the workplace

A balanced article on the recent US Supreme Court religious accommodation decision.

11 September

Fading vaccines and failing mandates

For the last two weeks 25 % (and up to 50 % in some age groups) of new COVID case are vaccinated people. This is no ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’, just a virus that continues to spread. It is spreading because the ‘vaccines’ are not stopping it.

Mubarak Bala in an undated photo. Courtesy photo
30 April

Global pressure mounts for Nigerian atheist’s release after year in detention

While ‘religious freedom’ is often associated with defending particular faith communities, to be truly realized it must pertain to everyone. That includes those who choose to hold no particular faith at all.

16 September

Magnitzky Acts

Webinar on the campaign to have national legislatures pass what are called ‘Magnitzky Acts’ - legislation that targets the assets and property of corrupt officials who have committed gross violations of human rights.

Representative Image (social media)
12 September

If Dalits can be Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, why can’t they be Christians and Muslims?

Christian and Muslim Dalits have been denied benefits available to SC groups among Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. A petition challenging the discrimination has been pending in Supreme Court for years

12 September

As Côte d’Ivoire’s 2020 presidential elections near, the country is at risk for large-scale vio

Every political transition in the country’s history—most recently the 2010 presidential election—has resulted in systematic civilian targeting. Learn about the country’s recent history of war and a 2019 assessment of early warning signs.

05 September

Trump ends 'critical race theory' training for federal employees, calls it a 'sickness'

Federal agencies are to stop using controversial forms of training on “critical race theory,” “white privilege” and “any other training or propaganda effort that suggests the United States is a racist country or that any race is inherently evil

A child from the Uyghur community living in Turkey participates in a protest in Istanbul on November 6, 2018, against oppression by the Chinese government of Muslim Uyghurs in the far-western Xinjiang province. >Credit: AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
21 August

China Buys Turkey’s Silence on Uyghur Oppression

A quick explanation of how China uses economic leverage to silence Turkey on the Uyghur issue, coauthored by my colleague and friend, Aykan Erdemir.

15 August

Why SC status for Dalit Christians, Muslims should not be linked to religion

They are denied the Scheduled Caste status because of what is written in the Constitution, and the problem should be addressed with consideration for human rights and based on reality

A petition challenging the Presidential (Scheduled Castes) Order, issued on August 10, 1950, is now pending in the Supreme Court. (Representative image of the Supreme Court in New Delhi)
10 August

70-year wait for Dalit Christians, Muslims on SC verdict over caste status

Five days before India celebrates her 73rd anniversary of Independence, Dalit Christians and Muslims will mark a grimmer anniversary of the date when the Presidential (Scheduled Castes) Order was issued on August 10, 1950.

Portraits of Mao Zedong are replacing religious symbols in homes of believers.
16 July

People on Social Welfare Ordered to Worship CCP, Not God

The coronavirus outbreak has significantly affected China’s economy and livelihoods, primarily low-income households. Without much help from the state, religious residents are also coerced to renounce their faith, or their welfare benefits are cut.

15 July

SUDAN - Death Penalty Abolished for Apostasy

The Sovereignty Council of Sudan officially abolished the death penalty for apostasy in July after the Chairman of the Council, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, signed several new laws and amendments.

Pastor Munshi Devu Tado with wife Jaini, and one of their children in Gadchiroli District, Maharashtra, India. (Image credit: Morning Star News)
14 July

Pastor in India Murdered by Maoists

Maoists in the Maharashtra state of India killed a Christian church pastor, becoming the fourth Christian to die for their faith in the South Asian country in the last two months.

08 July

The Truro Review

United Kingdom Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the Foreign Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (FCO) Support for Persecuted Christians

Romina Ashrafi reportedly told police that she feared for her life if forced to return home
27 May

Outrage in Iran after girl murdered 'for eloping'

Police in Iran have arrested a man accused of murdering his 14-year-old daughter in a so-called honour killing that has sparked widespread outrage.

A woman weeps while recounting stories of her family's persecution. (Photo: ChinaAid)
23 January

Propaganda videos show Uyghur relatives

Chinese-state owned media outlets, Global Times and CGTV, released propaganda videos to validate the Chinese Communist Party’s mass incarceration of Uyghurs for their ethnicity and religious beliefs.

 

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Subject Tags

Buddhist  China  Christianity  Christians  faith  freedom of expression  freedom of speech  freedom to believe  government  Hindu  human rights  Islam  Isreal  liberty  martyr  media  Muslim  pro-life  religion  religious freedom  religious persecution  security  worship 

Hate Crimes Canada 2015

Police across the country recorded 159 hate crimes targeted at Muslims, up from 45 in 2012, representing an increase of 253 per cent. In just one year, between 2014 and 2015, that number increased by 59 per cent: from 99 in 2014 to 159 the following year.