New Zealand Scientologists Mark International Peace Day with Human Rights Education

Volunteers from the Church of Scientology Auckland held a human rights awareness event on International Peace Day

Volunteers from the Church of Scientology of Auckland celebrated International Peace Day September 21 by introducing people at Mangere Town Center to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

They chose to mark this day with human rights education because these rights are the cornerstone of accomplishing the goal of International Peace Day, which was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981 as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

The authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), passed by the United Nations in 1948, began the document by stating that recognition of “the inherent dignity and…equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”

Yet nearly 65 years later, few people know the 30 rights enshrined in the UDHR. A 2011 study conducted by the Human Rights Watch Student Task Force found of the 2,900 high school students surveyed, 71 percent had not heard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 31 percent could not define human rights and 90 percent had trouble defining the term “human dignity.”

The Auckland volunteers briefed passersby on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and invited them to sign a petition calling on the government to mandate human rights education throughout New Zealand.

The Church of Scientology published Scientology: How We Help—United for Human Rights, Making Human Rights a Global Reality, to meet requests for more information about the human rights education and awareness initiative the Church supports. To learn more, visit www.Scientology.org/humanrights.

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream,” and the Scientology religion is based on the principles of human rights. The Code of a Scientologist calls on all members of the religion to dedicate themselves “to support true humanitarian endeavors in the fields of human rights.”