CELEBRATING Human Rights in every 10th day of December is a worldwide festive yet, we must be reminded that it is not just a ritual of remembering the day when United Nations have fully recognized the very essence of human existence, but rather, it is a responsible action of human or people to commemorate deeply not only during 10th day of December, but furthermore to the historical suffering experiences of the innocent people in the past, present and future against the maltreatment of human being, and to fully
reclaim, assert and continue to assert the fundamental value of respecting human life, preserving dignity and upholding the rights of everyone.
But, the issue and matters dealing with Human Rights whether we accept the truth or not, there are still big challenges of the church or in the christian arena on how we can find deeply the relation of our faith in God
and our duty to preserve and uphold the rights of every human being. As I understood base on my observations, there is a lot of church goers that really don’t want to talk about Human Rights inside the church even though they have the equal rights as the others’ rights that they don’t want to talk?
I wonder why this always happening in the christian arena? What’s really the problem of talking about Human Rights inside the church? Is anybody can provide me concrete reason that is biblically and theologically proven
why do the church should not talk about Human Rights inside her arena? Are Human Rights issues if we try to address inside the church, could be a hindrance of our faith in God?
Is Human Rights if we have to faithfully address as a church, a barriers of our Christian belief? Well, I don’t think so! Because if I may say biblically, our duty as Christians is to solely live like Christ himself, who during this time in the ancient Greeco-Roman era in Paletine, Jesus Christ went out to the wider community, lead the people and called to all his audiences especially the plebeian and said “Hey, you oppressed, marginalized and victimized by dregs treatment, Come and Join me! follow me! and all of us, work together to reclaim our very fundamental rights as created by the divine God!”.
Isn’t not so? Here’s some visible characteristics of many church goers. When we are trying to talk about Human Rights inside the parameter of the Church as to relate in my own bias observation, many people and members if not all have had something awkward responses into their ears and minds as christian church goers and even we have a very clear unusual and irrational reactions with regards to the emerging fresh and new issues of human rights in the community. Some people says to me, Pastor, why we have to get involve to the Human Rights issues while that is more on political matters that must be dealt with governmental laws and policies?
Some had asked me, why are you taking involve on that matters Pastor? Isn’t not the only duty of the church is to worship Christ alone, pray everyday and read your bible? Well, ignorantly enough, they don’t know their questions in the first place as I have in my mind during that conversation.
Take a look and have some revisit to the historical biblical passages; The event of Exodus is one of the greatest account in the Bible that must be considered by the christian churches as peoples’ movement of reclaiming Human dignity and rights as ultimate response to their maltreated being as well as their response to the call of the divine God called “YAHWEH”.
People of God “Ancient Israelites” during their quest for survival and food due to the unprecedented famine in Canaan, they have done nothing any options but to go to somewhere and lay down their knees and beg to the great nation Egypt in order for them to have something to eat and to escape of dying from hunger.
In result, they have received as what they are trying to asked for, even if that was really a prerogative duty of Egypt’s new appointed leader named Joseph in which according to the account was the former maltreated brothers from Jacob’s Household. For so long, Israelites became threat as according to the bias interpretations of the tyrant powerful Pharaoh.
And so therefore, Pharaoh make a move to justify his rudeness and cruel attitudes towards the plebeian people of God, and that he conducted a widespread propaganda that Israelites must be under massive slavery and forced labor to suppressed their individual rights and human dignity because if not, Israelites may take over the ruling status of the society. In result,
People of Yahweh were too much victimized by the tyrant powerful king Pharaoh. Pharaoh never respects human dignity, even more, he refused the right to life by doing genocides of the male children in order to secure his throne intact into his ruling elite circles (Exodus 1:8-22). This is obviously a biblical account of human rights issues, of human rights violations and of human rights ethical inquiries and demand.
But how was the treatment of God towards this experiences of God’s people? What exactly God says to the people? Is God says to them, okay men and women, don’t resist to the tyrant Egypt king because that’s more political than my will? In fact, if we have to read very keen on the issues of the Israelites regarding matters responding the call of the times, a man called Moses got heard the ultimate call from God, and responded such call base on the visible and real situation in the community albeit, to free the slaves.
God felt the pain of the people, (Deuteronomy 26: 6-8) God have seen the injustices inflected to the people and God have recognized the widespread violations of human dignity, and that the time to act responsively is at hand so that, people may live with meaning, freedom and equality. On the present situations of our beloved nation, this is really our institutional doctrinal crisis when humanrights issues has been neglected by the church in itself since our nation’s citizen is majority a Christian baptized people.
In fact, Churches of today, became the pacifier of truth, instead of taking side of the truth. Human Rights has been abandoned on its liturgy and worship, and the church so to speak, too much concern on the bases of romanticizing the life and death of Jesus instead of making Christ as an example who posed forward for struggle of the people in behalf of the neglected and marginalized people in the society.
Lat’s back again to the historical Jesus of Nazareth; When Jesus Christ started his ministry in the small region of Galilee, he did not intended to start a new religious sects and institutions so he can get something
economic status from his followers. What he did first was to study, learn and reflect to the life and experiences of the community where he himself is belonged. Obviously, Jesus’ lived in the context of uncertainty, in the context of political destabilization, in the context of societal crisis and injustices, in the context of double colonization (Greek and Roman), and furthermore, Jesus’ lived in the context where the threefold economic oppressions (TRIBUTE to the Roman Empire, HEAVY TAXES to the kingdom of
Herod, and the TITHES for the temple of the Jewish religion) are ultimately a culture impunity.
Nevertheless, Jesus Christ wasn’t stayed in the Temple of the Jew in order for him to pray alone and preach the good news inside the temple, but rather, He went down to the community which absolutely outside of the temple, lived with them, eat with them, attached his life with people and provide options when people have seen no choice, so that the gospel of the kingdom of God may really experienced by the common people of the land.
People of God during Jesus’ time, lost their dignity, the elite ruling temple of the Jews and of Herod grabbed and took their fundamental rights if I may say that. Hopeless people are rallying on the streets asking Jesus for healing and food, brave people joining the underground movement such as the
Zealots movement to combat the brutality brought by the Roman empire. All of these are societal crisis during Jesus’ time that needs to be responded base on the demand of people’s faith in God.
And where does Jesus Christ took place? Very much clear he took the path where human dignity, justice, freedom and equality are highly preserved and observed. (Luke 4: 18-19) Our role a existed institutions or so to speak a
church, is to take part of the struggle of God’s chosen people so that the fruit of it might be benefited by our next generation of Christian community of faith.
Finally, The mandate to a Christian faith is to make a choice in which choices are beneficial to those who needs the most. Whenever the rights and dignity of everybody is threaten, there our ministry must be strengthen. Human rights issues of today is at the altar of the church, it is evident at our front when we cannot deny it anymore. How the church made a concrete response to it?
Pastor June Ver Faunillan Mangao
2012.jvfm.06@gmail.com
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