Human Rights and Liberty

Human Rights and Liberty — page 1 — SOME PEOPLE ARGUE THAT THERE ARE OVER 30 BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS what are human rights There are certain things that people can do because the law allows them to such as drive cars watch television and travel around the world However many people argue that there are certain things that people should always be allowed to do simply because they are human These things are known as human rights Human rights help people to live with freedom equality justice and peace Not everyone agrees on what is and what isn’t a human right However there are a few rights that most people agree everyone has simply because they are human They are The right to liberty The right to life The right to equality The right to a fair trial The right to freedom of speech The right to freedom of religion Here are three Buddhists practicing their right to freedom of religion Don’t worry if you don’t understand what these rights mean at the moment We will talk about all of them later on

Human Rights and Liberty — page 2 — THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WHO ARE TRYING TO MAKE HAVING ACCESS TO THE INTERNET A HUMAN RIGHT Even though you may not know all of your human rights yet they are still there Even babies have human rights In many cases a legal right is based on a moral right One example of this is that it is illegal to steal Many people believe that no one ever has the moral right to steal so laws have been made that say no one ever has the legal right to steal either A right is something that someone has the authority or permission to have or do A person might have permission to do something because the law says they can This is called a legal right For example most adults have the legal right to vote To vote is to have a say in who is part of your country’s government A person might also have permission to do something because it is the fair or right thing to do This is called a moral right For example you have the moral right to tell a teacher about a bully WHAT IS A RIGHT

Human Rights and Liberty — page 3 — THE RIGHT TO EQUALITY Every person has the right to live in a society that promotes the equality of all people Such a society views everyone as equally important gives everyone the same rights and allows everyone the same opportunities The right to equality is very important because it states that all of the other human rights must be equally applied to everyone The right to equality has been one of the most difﬁcult rights to protect because some cultures around the world do not consider everyone to be equal Often women are not treated as equal to men and are not allowed in some places to get an education or have a job People who do not have their right to equality protected by their government can be made to feel rejected and powerless Afghanistan IN AFGHANISTAN WOMEN ARE OFTEN NOT GVEN THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES AS MEN FOR EXAMPLE ONLY 17 PERCENT OF AFGHAN WOMEN ARE LITERATE OR ARE ABLE TO READ AND WRITE WHILE 51 PERCENT OF MEN ARE LITERATE

Human Rights and Liberty — page 4 — The right to freedom of religion means that people can be free to practice their beliefs In many places people from different religions and faiths often live together very happily In communities such as these people respect a person’s right to practice whatever religion they like However there are places in the world where the right to religious freedom isn’t always respected and people are forced to stop practicing their faith A person’s right to freedom of religion is a very important right to respect One of the reasons for this is because a person’s identity can be very closely linked to their religion People often make their faith a signiﬁcant part of their lives In these circumstances if a person’s right to freedom of religion isn’t respected it can threaten their sense of identity A person should have the right to express their identity and beliefs THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION Singapore THE MOST RELIGIOUSLY DIVERSE COUNTRY IN THE WORLD IS SINGAPORE WHICH HAS LARGE POPULATIONS OF BUDDHISTS CHRISTIANS MUSLIMS TAOISTS AND HINDUS These men are Hindus which means they practice Hindu Dharma or the duties of their faith

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