The Harvard Divinity School and their Center For The Study Of World Religions offer lecture mp3s here.
World religious studies is a deep interest of mine, especially as those studies relate to origins narratives, and the role of art and music in perpetuating faith narratives across generations.
You may not find the elements in lectures like these as intriguing as I might, yet, in a shrinking world, it becomes increasingly important for Christians to interact with the variety of stories and faith themes existing in the world.
We have much to learn from many peoples, and we have much to learn about communicating the biblical story in such a way that others can embrace it for the human Story that it is intended to be.
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Abdullahi An-Na’im, Who Is the Human in “Human Rights”? (October 2007; audio)
“How can human rights be universal, when there is no universal human?”
“(Humans) are so individual, so personal, that we can’t be universal.”
I am saddened by the lecture given by Abdullahi An-Na’im. To say that there is no universal human, and that a person must be “self-defining” makes my insides curl.
It’s my belief that every person has the right to food and clean drinking water. Period.
It’s 2am and I am fired up. I will return to this posting after a good nights rest and some cooling down.
So, it took me a few days to gather my thoughts, but I got them gathered and paired down. After reflecting on the lecture/discussion with Abdullahi An-Na’im, I realized that I am not saddened by what he has to say; however, I am saddened that our unifying race, the thing that makes us all so common, our humanity, would get to a point in which we have a need to acutally have and define human rights.
At what point do we just accept that as the human race we require certain things to live, ie. water, food, shelter. When did those things become negotiable? That they became negotiable among certain circles is beyond me, and dare I say, not the heart of Jesus.
I truly believe that the blood of those who have died due to injustice (be it one form or another) is on all of humanities hands, whether it’s inaction or causation, we wear their crimson.
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