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Dr. Reuben Egolf, Vice
President of Human Rights Global Congress™
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The launching of the iChange
Nations™ and
the Human Rights Global Congress™ on
April 18th in Grand Rapids, Michigan was an experience beyond
expectations. The attendance went beyond seating capacity to standing room
only. The atmosphere was filled with camaraderie with a common goal of protecting
the image of God. Diversity in ethnicities and faiths came to the unifying
force of the Golden Rule and demonstrated a culture that’s possible all over
the world.
I was asked to speak on Article 19
of the Human Rights Declaration set forth by the United Nations. Everyone
has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom
to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
In a nation like America the
subject of human rights seems to be distant from everyday life. We as citizens
in the United States do not fear our government will imprison, persecute, and
terminate our lives due to our expressing an opinion, or for our religious
faith. Therefore, the subject of human rights appears abstract and foreign, and
not much attention is given to it. The truth of the matter is that the
violation of human rights affects us all and much more directly that we think.
Where human rights are violated
it becomes the greatest abortion mill for human potential that there is. For
example, sex trafficking enslaves a woman and aborts her potential and
contribution to society and we all suffer as a consequence of her unreleased
potential. How many vaccines, cures, and how many other medical and
scientific breakthroughs to help human suffering have been terminated by
violating human rights? What about a man who merely expresses his
opinion concerning a government or about his faith who is then imprisoned,
beaten, and in many cases killed. According to Amnesty International
more than 1/3 of governments, 62 out of 160, locked up prisoners of conscience
– people who were simply exercising their rights and freedoms. Another
staggering statistic is that there are twenty seven million people currently
enslaved around the world. Can you imagine what is locked up inside a community
of multiplied millions? There are many nations of the world who do not have
twenty seven million people as a population, so in essence this is an entire
nation of people who’s potential is being withheld from the world.
If I am living with a terminal
disease in Canada, and the knowledge for the cure was inside of a person who
was killed twenty years ago in a country where his or her religious beliefs
were not tolerated, then my future has been affected by it. That violation
of their human rights has now directly affected and impacted my life.
Article written by: Dr. Reuben
Egolf – Vice President – Human Rights Global Congress™
Article edited with permission
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