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Economics, human welfare inexctricably tied
In President Obama's meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao this week, should discussion of human rights and religious freedom be on par with economic and environmental issues, or should human rights and religious freedom be secondary matters?
When President Obama meets with Chinese President Hu, he should not only address economics and environmental affairs, but also human and civil rights, including freedom of religion. Economics plays several vital roles in human welfare -- it provides jobs and income, and products that we need both to survive and to enjoy our lives. But without basic human rights, all of these remain at risk. When discrimination on the basis of religion is allowed, jobs and incomes become matters of whim, and worker security, comfort and satisfaction decreases. When political opinions can land one in jail, products will fail to give us the agency we desire over our own lives, and will fail at keeping us happy. When labor conditions are unregulated, the lives of workers all too often become miserable as corporations try to optimize their profit and reduce costs.
Clearly unfair business practices, unjustified currency manipulation, and environmental degradation threaten the stability of the global economy and the welfare of the entire planet. They have direct impact upon Americans, and must be addressed by President Obama.
Chinese officials claim that human rights are China's internal business. But the human race is one race, we are each others' keepers, as all holy books affirm*. We in the US should not feel comfortable and happy enjoying our freedoms and our lifestyles knowing that our shoes, clothes, computers, and cellphones were made by underpaid, overworked employees laboring in unsafe factories across the ocean. We should not happily feast on opinion pages and the blogosphere knowing that some of the people we so enjoy hearing from may end up in jail because of what they have written. To do so is to fail in our duty to our fellow humans.
It is also short-sighted. As Martin Luther King Jr. whose life we have just commemorated earlier this week, said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." When we are complacent about injustices in China, how long will it be before we are complacent about injustices in our own country? When we tolerate abridgment of human rights, of freedom of religion, how long will it be before those rights seem luxuries we do not have to maintain in our own country?
As a Muslim, I am taught not only that every human is my brother, but that I should stand up against oppression and for justice across the world. "O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to truth before Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, God's claim takes precedence over [the claims of] either of them. So follow not your own desires, lest you swerve from justice." (4:135) and again, "O believers, be you securers of justice, witness for God. Let not detestation for a people move you not to be equitable; be equitable-that is nearer to God-fearing." (5:8) As a Muslim, I cannot but want justice and equity for all human beings, not just for my own people, my own country. I believe this ideal is universal, just as the brotherhood of humankind is universal. As such, I can only encourage President Obama to address human rights along with our economic and environmental concerns.
* see for instance, the Qur'an: "O Mankind! We created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other. Verily, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted with all things" (49: 13).
By
Pamela K. Taylor
|
January 18, 2011; 5:25 PM ET
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Next: Will Obama preach the American sermon to Hu?
Posted by: letitbe | January 21, 2011 9:01 PM
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[TO All The Muslim-Lady's, whom [i]WE Ever LOVED and Hated!
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Huggs-n-a-Kiss's To All da Brights and da Sisstars!
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Credit “JJ”
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http://onwapo.wordpress.com/
Posted by: letitbe | January 19, 2011 6:08 PM
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Dear Pamela Taylor,
Belated Happy New Year.
By your permission,let me write my opinion and considerations on your article.
1-*Human Race is one race*
Culture of Submission divides Human Race into Two Parts,
A-Muslims B-Non-Muslims(Infidels)
Culture of Bedouin Desert Order also discriminates in gender
I-Male II-Female
Male excels Female(4.34) and Son is superior than Daughter.The Debased Muslim Woman is the Second Class Citizen.
2-*...as all holy books affirm*
In islam,there is only One Holy Book.Others are not Holy Books.According to Bedouin Mentality,Bible is not Holy Book,it's doctored and corrupted,because they didnt predict Founder of Islam coming.
Sun is flat 81.1 and Moses was muslim and used to prayer namaz is the Only Holy Book.
3-As a Muslim,I am tought...every human is my brother*
This view is against islam teaching.Infidel can not be your friend.Land of Infidel described as Land of War.Holy War and Conquest are Allah's Commands versus Land of Infidels.
4-*Justice in islam*
Many many times I wrote and as far as same Not Correct Interpretation done I repeat it.*Justice* in Submission means islamic rules.Justice in Desert Order has no connection with Present Contemporary Justice.*Justice across the world* means Spread islam across the world.Briefly,Justice is islam and has no any other meaning.
5-*Believer* in Culture of Violence
Believer means muslim.One who believes in Trinity can not be believer.
The most important part of my post(please,pay attention;
Chinese Nation and any Slant-eyed peoples are defined as Yajuj and Majuj in Book of Allah.Yajuj and Majuj are Yellow Race(not Gog and Magog in The Law.Yajuj and Majuj shouldnt be translated and interpreted as Gog and Magog) They are Dangerous and Demons.
Where is Brotherhood ?
Where is One Race ?
Conclusion:
Islam insults Chineses,Tatars,Moguls,Central Asia Turkic Peoples.Where is Brotherhood ?
Posted by: halozcel2 | January 19, 2011 3:47 AM
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Ms Taylor says:
"As a Muslim, I am taught not only that every human is my brother,...."
Wrong!! You are taught that every "believer" is your brother. "Believer" in Islamic interpretation means a Muslim who believes exactly as the one citing the quote.
Posted by: abrahamhab1 | January 18, 2011 8:44 PM
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"Life is cheap in China" is a phrase one sometimes hears (don't know the origin). As A Whitney Brown pointed out, even if you're a one-in-a-million kind of guy, there's a thousand others just like you in China.
So when Mao's plan to substitute massive amounts of labor for lack of capital didn't pan out, they bought prosperity at the expense of the quality of life of their citizens.
But there's only so far you can push that. Once the people become sufficiently educated and prosperous, they no longer accept tyranny. And once that happens, the internal divisions in their society will turn it into an unworkable bureaucratic behemoth like India, where the first thing every educated person wants to do is leave.
Posted by: WmarkW | January 18, 2011 7:06 PM
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Because me Good Moniker is Being Censored AT:
'Apartheid' in Pakistan
By N. Mahmood Ahmad and Amjad Mahmood Khan
Then "LET PAKISTAN(i's) Eat URANiUM!
And Let CHINA/ North Korea Take Care of Them Paki's. And Also Any of The 54+ "OIC" Ishlami United.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_the_Islamic_Conference
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new-NEW YORK's Gonna RISE Again! (Not Crusades!).
O' SATANIC VERSUS [Blind] LOVERS!