Senator George Brandis on human rights

#982 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 19 Oct 2014.

The October issue of the newspaper Eternity reports on a recent speech made by the federal Attorney-General, Senator George Brandis, to the University of Notre Dame on the Christian basis for human rights.

It makes fascinating reading. In his conclusion, Senator Brandis said:

The governing ethical principle which underlies our modern understanding of human rights – the moral equality of every human person – is a notion which had its origins in the gospel of Jesus, as developed and explained by the early Christian fathers … If that be so, those who actually attack Christianity in the name of some personal view of human rights commit an egregious travesty.

Senator Brandis said religious belief was central to the human condition, and faith enables us to perceive “that we are part of something larger, and thereby free ourselves from our base, everyday selfish concerns.”

He’s right, of course. I just wish those views were better reflected in government policy.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.