Quote:The pastor of the church I used to attend (he "brought" me to "the lord") would give sermons about how it is arrogant for human beings to demand rights of any kind. God is the final authority and giver of priviledge and rights. We should be begging him for forgiveness for the rottenness of our hearts instead of screaming about our rights.
Christians should support human rights, not be against them.
(Paraphrasing)
"Go ahead, scream about your rights. We'll see how useful those screams were when god takes your life."
If you google "christian human rights", you will find interesting christian perspectives on human rights. Some feel that human rights is something all people should be concened with. Others downplay a human rights focus in favor of "everyone just do what god tells you to, and you will get the goods."
Example: www2.mozcom.com/~renevald/talks/rtsdutis.htm
The problem with this is, some people oppress others for various reasons and the gods DO NOT step in. That's why people of good conscience are concerned with human rights these days. People of good conscience are not content with "well, if god didn't step in, then that person needs to look at their life to see if they deserved that treatment." Yes, my pastor said this kind of thing too. This is a very popular way at looking at hardship for MANY believers in the main religions.
Since there is no god, this attitude of "just keep busy in the lord" isn't going to do the trick.
"...the God I don't believe in is a good God, a just God, a merciful God. He's not the
mean and stupid God you make him out to be." - Lt. Scheisskopf's wife, from Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
