The Case for Human Rights – Sunday, October 23, 1983
World events of recent months—including civilian bombings, political assassinations, and other acts of premeditated violence and loss of life—have reminded us once again that man’s inalienable right to life is only a principle and not a realized fact of human existence.
Daily, individuals are robbed of this inherent right—murdered without cause, without due process—deprived of life in the name of patriotism, nationalism, or a dozen other “isms” which have as their base the proposition that governments and ideologies are more important than human life.
This preposterous assumption that the safety or welfare of government outweighs the security or well-being of individuals is a denial of the fundamental principle of human existence, a rejection of life itself. It is to say that government is the end for which humanity is the means, and to believe in the absurd notion that people are the creation of governments and not government the creation of the people; it is to commit heresy against human life and the human spirit.
Life is a privilege of nature. It is nonnegotiable, irrevocable and unfluctuating, It is the one law which transcends national boundaries, precedes all ideologies, outweighs diplomacy and politics, stands above governments and institutions.
Human existence is its own final argument and needs neither rebuttal nor defense.
No government or institution has the inherent right to spill innocent human blood, for any reason. Indeed, governments are instituted for the protection of mankind and the preservation of human rights. Thus, the welfare of institutions must be subservient to the welfare of individuals.
The basic tenet to all philosophies, the foundation for all religion, the ideal of civilization, social progress, individual happiness, and existence are dependent upon the God-given right to life.
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October 23, 1983
Broadcast Number 2,827