Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/a-manner-of-speaking/5021296/
What’s the point? What’s the point of talking about rights �" the rights of children, the rights of adults; the rights of human beings? What do we hope to accomplish? What’s the plan, the hope, the dream?If we humans were always able to be together in perfect harmony, we wouldn’t need to talk about rights. But life is about relationships between and among non-harmonious beings. It is in relationship to others that rights need attention because it is our way to determine and agree about how we will act. Rights are the playing field in which we all work out how we will cooperate. The almost universal use of a red and white octagonal STOP sign for controlling traffic is an example. We have agreed to cooperate by stopping at stop signs because we recognize the need to protect both others and ourselves from the harm that happens when cars collide. We all recognize the ‘right’ to expect that everyone will cooperate in this way.
Rights, in effect, are about power within relationships. Unlike the example of a stop sign, we don’t always have agreement about rights because there is often conflict between enjoying our own rights and acknowledging and protecting the ...