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Faith and Human Rights Human rights—and the related instruments and mechanisms—are tools for the DOC 51 promotion of justice and the protection of the dignity of all human beings, each of whom bears the image of God. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) therefore LWF Documentation sees human rights work as an important part of an holistic Christian ministry. Many 51/2006 individual members of Lutheran churches around the world are active participants in the struggle for human rights. This volume is a collection of essays and articles by some of these members of the Lutheran family, illustrating their experiences and concerns, the ways in which they are working for human rights in their different contexts, and how they relate this work Faith and Human Rights to their faith principles. Their writings offer inspiration and examples to others who may feel called to a human rights ministry. The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF now has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the world, representing 66.2 million Christians. Faith and Human Rights Voices from the Lutheran Communion LWF LWF Documentation No. 51/06 Documentation No. Lutheran University Press The Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches Documentation 51 cover-E.indd 1 22/03/2007 03:20:19 PM DTS-Studies-201002-text.indd 10 02/03/2011 15:55:18 PM FAITH AND HUMAN RIGHTS Voices from the Lutheran Communion The Lutheran World Federation Lutheran University Press Minneapolis, Minnesota Documentation 51-E.indd 3 12/12/2006 01:57:00 PM Faith and Human Rights: Voices from the Lutheran Communion Copyright 2006 Lutheran University Press and the Lutheran World Federation All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior permission. Published by Lutheran University Press under the auspices of: The Lutheran World Federation 150, rte de Ferney, PO Box 2100 CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity The apostolicity of the church : study document of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity [of] The Lutheran World Federation [and] Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-1-932688-16-0 ISBN-10: 1-932688-16-1 (perfect bound : alk. Paper) th 1. Church—Apostolicity—History of doctrines—20 century. 2. Interdenominational cooperation. 3. Lutheran Church—Relations— Catholic Church. 4. Catholic Church— Relations—Lutheran Church. 5. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity. I. Title. BV601.2.L88 2006 262’.72—dc22 2006048678 Lutheran University Press, PO Box 390759, Minneapolis, MN 55439 Manufactured in the United States of America Documentation 51-E.indd 4 12/12/2006 01:57:00 PM Contents 9 Introduction 13 Otto Frederick Nolde: A Human Rights Pioneer Peter Weiderud 23 Hope for the World Hans Morten Haugen 3 Excerpts from a Missionary’s Log Anton Lutz 37 Reflections on the Promotion of Human Rights in a US and Global Context Dennis Frado 41 The Power of Faith and Early Experiences in the Forma- tion of Human Rights Values Jean Martensen Human Rights as a Public Theology David Pfrimmer 69 A Missionary’s Log Continued 71 One Bread, One Humanity Jenny Zetterqvist 77 Developing a Human Rights Theology Jan-Olav Henriksen 83 A Missionary’s Log Continued LWF Documentation No. 51 Documentation 51-E.indd 5 12/12/2006 01:57:00 PM Faith and Human Rights: Voices from the Lutheran Communion 8 Faith, Feminism and Human Rights Musimbi Kanyoro 93 A Missionary’s Log Continued … 9 Women and Dalits Sagarika Chetty 107 A Missionary’s Log Continued … 109 Let’s Build the Beautiful Harmony of Life Benny Sinaga 117 A Missionary’s Log Continued … 119 Defending Indigenous Rights in the Brazilian Amazon Region: Testimony and Faith Jandira Keppi 129 A Missionary’s Log Continued … 131 The Promotion of Human Rights in Gambella Ojod Miru Ojulu 141 A Missionary’s Log Continued … 143 From Marxist Ideology to Christianity Vincent Manoharan J. 149 A Missionary’s Log Continued … 28 August 2005 11 Human Rights: The Relationship Between Faith and Work Mozart Dietrich 17 A Missionary’s Log Continued … 6 LWF Documentation No. 51 Documentation 51-E.indd 6 12/12/2006 01:57:01 PM 19 Establishing a Human Rights Culture John Pfitzner 173 A Missionary’s Log Continued … 179 Contributors 183 Conclusion LWF Documentation No. 51 7 Documentation 51-E.indd 7 12/12/2006 01:57:01 PM Documentation 51-E.indd 8 12/12/2006 01:57:01 PM Introduction The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) views engagement in the search for social and economic justice and the promotion of human dignity as fundamental elements of a holistic Christian ministry and witness. As declared at the LWF’s Sixth Assembly held in Dar es Salaam in 1977, Advocacy for justice is an essential, integral part of the mission of the church. It belongs inherently to the proclamation of the word. Justice under the law of God is a witness to the universal sovereignty of God’s law over all his creation.1 Human rights law—encompassing both civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights—provides a set of legal definitions and tools for the promotion and protection of human dignity, and for the pursuit of justice. Although the terminology of human rights is not to be found in biblical texts, nevertheless, This does not mean that the Bible does not provide an adequate basis for theological reflection on human rights. … The dignity of human beings, the chief reason for human rights, arises from the idea of persons being created in the image of God”. Although it would be wrong to claim an exclusively Christian ethical basis for what must, after all, be a universal struggle for human rights in all religious and cultural contexts, there is indeed much in Christian teaching and theology that enables churches to ‘own’ human rights as an essential part of their ministry. In the quotation above, Botman invokes the principle of imago dei—the doctrine that all people are created in the image of God. Some of the writers in this present publication also 1 Statement on “Socio-political Functions and Responsibilities of Lutheran Churches,” LWF Sixth Assembly, Dar es Salaam, 1977 Russel Botman, “The rights of the individual, the rights of the community and their relationship”, an article published in the World Alliance of Reformed Churches’ Semper Reformanda, vol. 48, no. 3 (September 1998) LWF Documentation No. 51 9 Documentation 51-E.indd 9 12/12/2006 01:57:01 PM Faith and Human Rights: Voices from the Lutheran Communion conceptualize the community’s and church’s concern for human rights on the same basis. Pfrimmer cites imago dei as the first of three theological convictions which provide the framework for churches’ involvement in human rights.3 Henriksen insists that “human rights issues should be a part of every Christian’s life” based on a realization that “‘the other’ is also created in God’s image.”4 Despite the vast diversity of humankind, all human beings are “crea- tures made in the image of their Creator. As such, they are capable of reason, choice, creativity, imagination, love and virtue. Any assault on the life or dignity of the individual is an affront to his [or her] Maker.” Moreover, the very birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ is itself the most powerful demonstration of the inherent value that God, through God’s love, invests in humankind. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3: 16). As Altmann observed, … grace radicalizes respect for human dignity, in that it attributes this dignity to the free will of God and not to nature. Over against the multi- plicity of ideological and social claims such as production and property, culture and property, culture and power, the valuing of the human be- ing for what he or she is, even and especially in deficiency, weakness, impotence, and marginality, returns us to the path that leads to Jesus of Nazareth, born in a stable and killed on a cross.6 In dying for our sins, Christ made the sufferings of the world his own. He also expressed most clearly the consequential implications of the human dignity in which his sacrifice was to be invested. Loving God and re-enact- ing God’s love for humanity is expressed in fulfilling the commandment to love one’s neighbor, and is manifested when our neighbor is able to say, 3 David Pfrimmer, … 4 Jan-Olav Henriksen, … Joseph Loconte, “Christianity and Human Rights”, paper presented at the Fourth Annual Lilly Fellows Program National Research Conference, p. 6 Walter Altmann, Luther and Liberation: A Latin American Perspective, trans. Mary M. Solberg (Minneapolis: Fortress, 199) p. 41 10 LWF Documentation No. 51 Documentation 51-E.indd 10 12/12/2006 01:57:01 PM Introduction …for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me (Matthew 25: 3–36) To his bewildered disciples, and to each of us today, Christ declares that “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me” (Matthew 25: 40).
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