United Nations Declaration on Human Rights

Topics: Human rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Franklin D. Roosevelt Pages: 3 (736 words) Published: October 18, 2012
After reading the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNHDR), I can see how many countries and private institutions use the UNDHR as its basis. I can also see how the UNDHR has taken many of its articles from other Countries’ declarations or constitutions (specifically the United States).

The UNDHR was adopted on 1948 and arose directly from the World War II. It represents the first global expression of “rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled”. During his State of Union speech in 1941, President Roosevelt addresses the Four Freedoms (which the allies adopted), freedom of speech, and freedom of religion, freedom from fear and freedom from want as their basic war aims.

In the community section of Saint Leo’s Core Values, it states; “Saint Leo University develops hospitable Christian learning communities everywhere we serve. We foster a spirit of belonging, unity, and interdependence based on mutual trust and respect to create socially responsible environments that challenge all of us to listen, to learn, to change, and to serve.”

In the UNDHR, there are thirty (30) articles that lay out the basic rights that every person is entitled to. Although, this is not a legal document and has no standing in court, this is more of a covenant that the member (most) agreed upon. In the United States, some of these articles are the basic freedoms that most Americans seem to take for granted and they are protected in the United States Constitution.

Now, the question that I have is this, Saint Leo’s is a Catholic University. Religion is a required course for graduation. I’m sure that Saint Leo’s would not turn a student away based on the religion or lack of religion. As a practicing Catholic, I would not be upset if I was attending a Methodist college or a Baptist college and they did not have a peer group for Catholics, nor would I expect them to.

In 2011, Catholic University was hit with a human rights complaint. The plaintiff...
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