There is a charity in Australia we are linked with. They run a programme called Values for Life. The idea is to provide young people with the ability to put together a values system in their lives that is sustainable.
There are a couple of things recently that have got me thinking about life values. One is the advertising of one TV channel that they will be delivering a month of guilt free “shallow” programming. A sort of “values holiday” month. Do we need values? What harm does it do if we have a month off?
I always used to laugh at the statement of a famous cricketer caught for drug use. He used to say “It doesn’t affect anybody but me”. If that were true he would never get caught. I think it can be hard to live a life that has no impact on others.
Last night we got to watch Liverpool lift the cup. They won. But there are a lot of places that now advocate a “no winner, no loser” version of sports for kids. Two competing values systems. Is one right and one wrong?
I also heard those wonderful words “If you want to hold that opinion that is your choice”. How aggressive is that! But there is a train of thought that says we don’t say people are right or wrong, just different. Many people seem to be adopting a child rearing approach that says “whatever is right for you”.
So how does that fit in with the issues we are dealing with around racism? If somebody is a racist can we say they are welcome to hold that opinion? If we can’t then does it give them the right to say we can’t hold out anti-racist opinion? How do we deal with a clash of values systems?
I believe we need a values system for our lives, and I even go as far as to say I believe we need a values system that we can agree to in society. I like human rights, but I wonder if replacing it with a set of societal values is better, incorporating what we should expect to get from and to give to society?
I also wonder whether a value holiday system is the right way to raise children. The way I saw my upbringing was that I had a values system imposed on me, but I was free to discuss it and challenge it as I grew. It protected me from harm until I built up my own values system.
I once had my youth group put together a list of values they thought should be applied to every person (I then went on to ask if a dog should have the same system applied to them, or an alien from outer space – but that is for another time). I was surprised how close it was to the items in the universal declaration on human rights. Was that something their parents or school had imprinted on their brains, or was it their own idea?
It is interesting that the declaration uses terminology that some would now consider offensive, however I still think it is worth reading – in particular the preamble (the bit we normally skip over).
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UN General Assembly resolution 217 A
Paris 10 December 1948
Quite interesting paragraph in there “if man is not to be compelled to have recourse … to rebellion against tyranny and oppression”.