To mark International Human Rights Day, the President of the Humanist Association of Germany, Frieder Otto Wolf, called on Tuesday in Berlin to question supposed certainties: “Today is a good day to remind ourselves that cultural progress is neither a law of nature nor easy to force – and sometimes cannot even be fought for.”
Human Rights Day was declared an international day of remembrance by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, three and a half years after the end of the Second World War, to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The explicit commitment to universal and non-negotiable human rights states, among other things: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should treat one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” For humanists, this day of remembrance is significant because it provides an opportunity to address central principles of humanist worldview and practice, thereby addressing the foundations of freedom, justice and peace in the world. “Unfortunately, however, it seems to be true that these principles have less and less practical significance for people,” said Frieder Otto Wolf. The principles addressed by the day seem to be less and less respected in societies around the world. The declaration adopted under the impression of the horror of the last night of European history 65 years ago has less and less significance for the thoughts and actions of people with the power to assert themselves, Wolf continued. “Today, we really must mourn the diminishing efforts in the question of how people can create a peaceful, just and dignified coexistence. The day has long since ceased to be a public holiday, but rather an impetus for constructive and practical remembrance of the prerequisites for a more humane and better world.” There are three major prerequisites for the sustainable realization of human rights today: “a comprehensive experience of the loss of humanity, which also shapes the will for alternatives, as was the case in the last century in the face of the Holocaust and world wars; the independence of the ideas expressed in the declaration from economic interests; the willingness of a large part of the elites to really take their responsibility seriously, which means in particular the media as an important force alongside politics.” The many dead refugees off Lampedusa, the growing division of societies in terms of their financial circumstances and a worldwide increase in massive discrimination against people without religious affiliation are just three facets in the “mirror of a newly declining culture of humanity.” Non-religious people, women interested in self-determination and all people without a heterosexual identity should no longer simply trust in the great ideas from Europe’s past, as they were once reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, emphasized Frieder Otto Wolf. “Skepticism and doubt instead of blind faith are constitutive of our worldview. And we must not exclude the agreements that we consider indispensable and formative for our ideals. So let us doubt today that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has really initiated a process of its implementation – in order to stand up for our humanist and humanitarian convictions with a new perspective and intelligent determination.”
