For me as a Liberal Rastafarian, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the 10 commandments; the 8-fold path; the Sermon on the Mount of our time. The declaration from its inception was championed by Haile Selassie as the liberational and ethical document of our age that had the power to save humanity from itself. Declared in 1948 out of the ashes of the Second World War and at the heights of the Cold War the declaration was a response to the evils of colonialism, racism, genocide and sexism that plagued the beginning of the 20th Century, and the possibilities of nuclear destruction that loomed over the head of mankind as the world's superpower's stared down the barrel.
Today though we have made great progress human rights violations still continue to abide and there is growing feeling in some circles that the Human Rights Act should be abolished. In Britain for example the Conservative Party have controversially called for the Human Rights Act to be axed something that I believe would be a disaster and hamper the progress that we have made today.
Looking back at some of the harrowing events of the 20th Century I am certain that this is the most enlightened document that humankind have produced, whose values have contributed to making the world a more peaceful, loving and stable environment. Incalculating the values of the declaration into our children today will be the cause of a better world tomorrow and prepare our children to be the first generation that never experienced war.
That the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not better known and Human Rights Day not universally celebrated is a tragedy; that some would call for the Human Rights Act to be abolished is a sin. In this document we have the values that if adopted by a generation would drastically change the world for the better; but today there is not any scheduled prime-time programming on the BBC about this epoch making declaration; there is not a special Human Rights speech by the Prime Minister over the radio or on TV and local schools have not decided to make a big deal about Human Rights Day as much as they make a big deal out of Halloween, Christmas or Easter. Citizenship classes at secondary schools have not worked as effectively as they should have in engendering human rights values and have more or less been ignored by many schools and teachers who think the subject a secondary one or to be promoting values that could perhaps bring the pupils into conflict with school rules.
Today, in Britain there is some confusion among academics, politicians and citizens on the values and identity of the British public; elected politicians in particular struggle to make sense of who we are whilst many British radicals believe that there is no role that the state can play in shaping British identity and values and to do so would be domineering and colonial. It is my belief that the state has a role in shaping the values of our society through messaging and sharing of values. It is the work of the state to ensure that the human rights of their citizens are protected and to instil in their citizens from a tender age the values and importance of the declaration.
It is my belief that the identity and values of modern Britain, New Britannia, can be found in the Universal Declaration of Rights; it is my belief that we are and must become Human Rights Britain; we are the people of the declaration just as Muslims are the people of the Quran. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights I can hear loudly the echo of the great British liberal tradition spoken about by John Stuart Mill and John Maynard Keynes and nothing would make me more proud of Britain than the wholesale adoption of human rights culture as our national culture.
Today; I would like to call upon all who read this article to do something to make Britain a better place and share and celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with your children, friends and family.
One Love
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