Friendship, dignity and rights

One day the Pharisees gathered around Jesus and with them were some teachers of the Law who had just come from Jerusalem.

They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their meal with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. Now the Pharisees, and in fact, all the Jews, never eat without washing their hands for they follow the tradition received from their ancestors. Nor do they eat anything when they come from the market without first washing themselves.

…So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat with unclean hands?”

Jesus answered, “You shallow people! How well Isaiah prophesied of you when he wrote: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, for what they teach are only human rules. You even put aside the commandment of God to hold fast to human tradition.”

And Jesus commented, “You have a fine way of disregarding the commandment of God in order to implant your own tradition. For example, Moses said: Do your duty to your father and your mother, and:Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death. But according to you someone could say to his father or mother:’I already declared Corban, which means “offered to God,” what you could have expected from me.’ In this case, you no longer let him do anything for a father or mother. So you nullify the word of God through the tradition you have handed on. And you do many other things like that.”

Mark 7: 1-13

My day began with a practice which used to be more regular when I still lived in Hong Kong. It was my regular breakfast meeting with my friend Bruce Van Vooris, which often took place in a Mall not too far away from our office, beginning at around 8:45 a.m. and finishing before 9:30 a.m. when we were both expected to be behind our desks. Our brief encounter however was always fun. We would talk about our current concerns and interests and joke a lot in between. Bruce, whom I often mistakenly called Bush, has been a real friend along with John Sloan, Philip Setunga, and my Filipino colleague Danny Reyes. I have many friends in Hong Kong but these three are friends who have helped me understand and survive working for human rights in that place.

Friendship or wholesome and enriching human relationships are essential to understanding human rights and what lies beneath these. Friendship does not calculate and measure the way the law measures and demarcates rights. There is something more fundamental than rights, something which in fact is the source of rights: human dignity. Without dignity, rights become a mere question of legality and conflicting claims. When rights are violated, what is really happening is the violation or negation of the other’s dignity as person.

When friends are together, respect and appreciation of each other’s dignity comes naturally and unwittingly. In the absence of this human bond of trust and mutual appreciation, the other becomes a threat and is suspect. The recognition and respect for the other’s dignity is often described by Buddhist as compassion. The 14^th Dalai Lama clarifies it this way:

“ The true expression of non-violence is compassion, which is not just a passive emotional response, but a rational stimulus to action. To experience genuine compassion is to develop a feeling of closeness to others combined with a sense of responsibility for their welfare. This develops when we accept that other people are just like ourselves in wanting happiness and not wanting suffering.” (cf. Mark Kurlansky, Nonviolence, p. xiii-iiv.

In the gospel, the Pharisees criticized Jesus’s disciples who ate without washing their hands. The Pharisees found another opportunity to cite Judaic laws that govern eating and the prescribed ablutions that precede it. Obviously there is no friendship between the Pharisees and Jesus. There is no compassion, no love.

Among my friends in the human rights field, we have begun reflecting on this fundamental and essential link between human dignity and rights. A world of rights, a world of law and legality, is a cold and calculating world. More fundamental, more enriching and humanizing is a world of dignity which women and men of peace and of non-violence have promoted.

Lord, we ask you to open the eyes of all to the dignity that shines forth from the depths of each person. Help us recognize, respect and appreciate each other’s dignity which mirrors your loving and compassionate presence in our lives. Amen.

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