Short Note on Human Rights
Not much time to write today, being in the middle of a minor plumbing job.
Human Rights Watch is not normally one of my favorite organizations, as it treats legal abortion as a "fundamental human right" (evidently "fundamental human rights" are only conferred after birth.) and doesn't seem to have much interest in the fundamental human right of free exercise of religion. However, the organization does produce some pretty informative reports on parts of the world where human rights are few and free exercise only one small problem among many. This month it has released a report on the status of women in the Palestinian Territory. I've only had time to partly skim it so far, but what I've seen has been ugly. It is linked here. Would that latter-day feminists (my brand of the philosophy goes back a century or so) took half the interest in abuses like these that they seem to take in far less serious issues.
Human Rights Watch is not normally one of my favorite organizations, as it treats legal abortion as a "fundamental human right" (evidently "fundamental human rights" are only conferred after birth.) and doesn't seem to have much interest in the fundamental human right of free exercise of religion. However, the organization does produce some pretty informative reports on parts of the world where human rights are few and free exercise only one small problem among many. This month it has released a report on the status of women in the Palestinian Territory. I've only had time to partly skim it so far, but what I've seen has been ugly. It is linked here. Would that latter-day feminists (my brand of the philosophy goes back a century or so) took half the interest in abuses like these that they seem to take in far less serious issues.
Labels: human rights
posted by CMinor | 7:06 PM
4 Comments:
I agree. Some people think that the best thing in this world is absolute freedom and rights. I couple of months ago a small group of Human Rights Watch group from somewhere in the US visit Manila and gave a lecture on what they hear from the media is the growing numbers of political killings (with due respects to the politicians, but I'm not a bit concern, of course I'm just joking :D. They did not tell if they gave a lecture about the possible legalization of abortion here but I'm prety sure they didn't broach about that subject for fear they will loose their credibility. You know, first impression last and the brainwashing can be done later.
Unfortunately, Human Rights Watch has chosen to draw a line and come down on one side of it rather than recognize the rights of both mother and child. What they fail to understand is that expanding access to abortion frequently only serves to increase the exploitation of women. In an already chavinistic society, abortion allows men to divest themselves of responsibility for the children they make and women become sexual commodities to be used and rendered unpregnant again at will.
hey cminor, can you beleive it, Bent is back! You'd better check her out.
thanks
Thanks--I noticed she had a new post up a couple of hours ago. I'll have to give it a thorough read.
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