It is this distinguishing impulse of human consciousness that provides the
moral imperative for the enunciation of many of the rights enshrined in
the Universal Declaration and the related Covenants. Universal education,
freedom of movement, access to information, and the opportunity to
participate in political life are all aspects of its operation that
require explicit guarantee by the international community. The same is
true of freedom of thought and belief, including religious liberty, along
with the right to hold opinions and express these opinions appropriately.
Since the body of humankind is one and indivisible, each member of the
race is born into the world as a trust of the whole. This trusteeship
constitutes the moral foundation of most of the other rights—principally
economic and social—which the instruments of the United Nations are
attempting similarly to define. The security of the family and the home,
the ownership of property, and the right to privacy are all implied in
such a trusteeship. The obligations on the part of the community extend to
the provision of employment, mental and physical health care, social
security, fair wages, rest and recreation, and a host of other reasonable
expectations on the part of the individual members of society.
The principle of collective trusteeship creates also the right of every
person to expect that those cultural conditions essential to his or her
identity enjoy the protection of national and international law. Much like
the role played by the gene pool in the biological life of humankind and
its environment, the immense wealth of cultural diversity achieved over
thousands of years is vital to the social and economic development of a
human race experiencing its collective coming-of-age. It represents a
heritage that must be permitted to bear its fruit in a global
civilization. On the one hand, cultural expressions need to be protected
from suffocation by the materialistic influences currently holding sway.
On the other, cultures must be enabled to interact with one another in
ever-changing patterns of civilization, free of manipulation for partisan
political ends.
“The light of men”, Bahá’u’lláh says, “is Justice. Quench it not with the
contrary winds of oppression and tyranny. The purpose of justice is the
appearance of unity among men. The ocean of divine wisdom surgeth within
this exalted word, while the books of the world cannot contain its inner
significance.”
III
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