You Have the Right?

No man is an island,
No man stands alone,
Each man's joy is joy to me,
Each man's grief is my own.
           Joan Baez (reinterpreting John Donne)

A Bill of Rights
Frank Brennan's National Human Right Consultation committee has published its findings: that Australia needs a Bill of Rights.  Supporters of such a Bill, and there are many, are largely astonished that anybody opposes their position.  This post explains why I number myself amongst the opponents.

In theory, a bill of rights sounds like a great idea.  Who could be against human rights?  We all want basic rights like "freedom of speech", "freedom of religion" and such.  Don't we?

Which Rights
One objection frequently heard is the question of "what rights to include".  Among the rights recommended by Fr Brennan and co. is :

"The right to life. Every person has the right to life. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of life. The death penalty may not be imposed for any offence."

That would effectively end debate on abortion, euthanasia and capital punishment.  That might be a good thing, but the community is far from unanimous on that point.  Another is:

"the right to privacy and reputation"

Does that mean you can never damage anybody's reputation, even with truth?

Overreaching
Because rights are generally defined in very simple terms, it is easy to stretch them to mean more than was ever intended.  In the USA, the right to free speech is used to justify pornography and slander.  The right for a well-armed militia is used to justify children carrying automatic weapons.

Freedom of Religion
The most conflicting issue is freedom of religion.  As a Christian, I am a big fan of religious freedom.  I don't want anybody telling me what I can believe and I don't want to tell anybody else what they can believe.
But what if my religion finds western society offensive and wants to destroy it?
What if my religion suppresses and brutalises women[1]?
What if it requires child abuse or illegal drugs?
Are we really ready for unrestrained freedom of religion?

No Rights
I'm going to go one step further.  There are no absolute rights.  No man (or woman) is an island.  every right that you have, impinges on my rights, and vice versa.  I cannot (wrongly) accuse you of a crime, I cannot tell others the PIN for your bank account or what hours your daughter will be home alone.  That is not a problem, I shouldn't be able to do those things.  But I do not have unfettered freedom of speech.  As soon as we acknowledge that, it becomes plain that any simple list of rights will always be inadequate.

Defending Freedom
Yet that does not mean that freedom is unimportant.  While our freedoms are always limited by common sense, the freedoms that we do have are precious and are worth fighting for.  Our freedoms have been greatly curtailed in recent years as we react to real or perceived threats from terrorists.  Try asking a local airline employee if they've heard the one about the archbishop and the suicide bomber.  We need to continually scrutinise and challenge the laws that restrict us.  But we need to know that we will never be without any restriction.


[1] I'm not targetting Moslems here.  Most Moslems I've met neither want to attack western society nor mistreat women.  A few do, and the law will have to apply to them as well.  There are radical Christians as well as radical Jews.  Those are just as dangerous as radical Moslems.