By Ginger Malacko
REAL Women of Canada
Representative at the UN
The UN Declaration on Human Rights provides that everyone has the right to ‘freedom of thought, conscience and religion’. However, believe it or not, the United Nations is trying to screen our thoughts and faith-based beliefs, and even to change them. To be clear, we are not speaking of member states, which are individual sovereign nations, but, instead, we are referring to the UN itself and its large, bureaucratic body made up of career activists who are people who promote collectivist ideologies by twisting a reasonable argument to their own purposes. It also includes anti-family/life feminist NGO’s (non-government organizations) who are using the UN as their tool to bring about a revolution worldwide.
This is being done by raising objections to some nations refusing to comply with international treaties and agreements because of their religious and cultural concerns. Obviously, religious and cultural concerns should not be used to justify the violation of human rights. However, let’s consider this situation carefully.
Defending Religious, Ethical and Cultural Traditions
Customarily, when nations are nervous about language proposed in UN documents, they insist on adding words to protect their sovereignty such as “with full respect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of each country’s people”. This allows governments to interpret UN language in a way that does not undermine existing laws and traditions. This is a good thing.
If you examine the negotiations at the UN, you will observe that nations that might, for example, be considered oppressive to women, such as some Islamic countries, don’t raise religious objections because they oppose desirable things, such as women’s participation in the government or the marketplace, or literacy and education. Rather, these nations submit language to defend religious and cultural rights in response to language that proposes radical moral changes, such as to sexual activity, homosexuality, marriage and abortion. Their concern for defending religious freedom is just like our own, and is most definitely legitimate.
Then, there are groups who use religion to justify oppression and violence. As long as there are people who need an excuse for their actions, there will be people who hide behind this handy scapegoat. Likewise, the UN is not really targeting human rights violators when it targets religious and cultural rights, but is actually waging a war against traditional moral values, using religion as its reason for doing so.
That is, the reality is that the UN both defends and attacks freedom of religion, depending on which position serves its purpose, but always with a view to disparaging any opinion but their own, especially in regard to sexual, family and other moral values.
Weakening Religious Freedom
Why, for example, did the UN Human Rights Council adopt the Resolution on Defamation of Religions, which calls for censorship of the media and internet, using the ‘plight’ of Islamic nations as justification? In this resolution, the UN demands that Islam be considered off limits for political and theological criticism, but the UN never comes to the defense of Jews, Catholics, or, most recently, the Mormons in this regard. We can conclude that the UN isn’t really concerned with defending Islam at all, but is using this religion of choice as a weapon against freedom of speech: this impacts religious freedom across the board.
Attacking Western Religion
Consider that China, easily one of the greatest human rights violators of the world, is never chastised by the UN (only by member states, particularly the US). Why? Because China does not use religion to “oppress” its people, according to the UN. The UN organization supports collectivist ideals, so they overlook crimes against humanity, and even praise China for its ‘great strides’ in human rights. The UN recognizes the single greatest opposition to its agenda as the religious right. In effect, the UN is using its opposition to religion as an attack on the religious right.
The UN will demonize any religion that questions its authority or disagrees with its platform. The UN hosts many seemingly pro-religion meetings that encourage attendees to forget differences and embrace a global spiritualism – a disorganized religion. The UN does appreciate and espouse the teaching that we are all children under a Supreme Being, because the UN aspires to be that Supreme Being! It picks and chooses which beliefs or teachings of each faith it can use, and forgets that people already have the inherent right to believe whatever they want to, without discrimination or interference, as long as the law is not broken.
This war of words has nothing to do with whether any religious law, code or creed is good or bad. Because at the end of the day, countries where the worst human rights violations are being perpetrated will not change because of anything the UN has said or done. However in the western world, where the war against religion is being fought and won daily in schools, the media, and the courts, every time the UN successfully strikes down language that protects religion and culture, we lose more ground.
Canada is Complicit
So how does the UN get away with this attack on one of our most fundamental human rights – freedom of religion? Simply because many of the powerful member states are on board, particularly the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, and the US, depending on who sits in the oval office. Sadly, most of the nations who are brave enough to stand against the UN and the western powers are either human rights violators, who are easily discredited, tiny developing nations, or strongly Catholic countries, such as Poland and Malta. Those nations are treated like ignorant children. And do we dare ask where Canada stands? Well, if you ask the Canadian delegation which nations they align themselves with on this issue (and most other issues), they will tell you straight up: the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, and the US, depending on who sits in the oval office. The war against religion is very real and we are engaged in the fight internationally at the UN. Canada is fighting on the wrong side.
Please write to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lawrence Cannon, and your MP objecting to Canada’s failure to protect religious rights at the UN. Their addresses are as follows:
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0G2
Fax: 613-992-6802
Your MP
House of Commons
K1A 0A6 |
