Religious Freedom Round Table on Human Rights Day

Rocky Mountain chapter of United for Human Rights co-hosts panel discussion on Freedom of Religion and Belief at the Church of Scientology Colorado.

In celebration of International Human Rights Day 2017, the Rocky Mountain chapter of United for Human Rights and the Church of Scientology Colorado co-hosted a round table panel discussion December 10 on article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.”

The adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on December 10, 1948, was a milestone. It set forth the inalienable rights everyone is inherently entitled to regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political affiliation or national origin. The UDHR is the most translated document in the world, available in over 500 languages.

Despite this, news of religious repression abounds; people are either unaware of or blatantly disregard the rights of others to practice their religion as they see fit.

United for Human Rights, a secular nonprofit organization supported by the Church of Scientology, is dedicated to promoting human rights. Its educational materials bring the articles of the UDHR to life, making human rights a reality in the hearts, minds and actions of people around the world.

Those attending the Church’s Human Rights Day event included representatives of the Colorado Singh Sabha Sikh temple, the Church of Scientology Colorado, and the founder of March for Humanity and past president of the Colorado Muslim Society. They discussed the importance of building understanding among religions—those represented and all religions of the world. The group resolved to forward the right of freedom of thought, promote understanding among religions, and promote religion as a vital part of the community.

The round table was moderated by “Comeback Coach” Mark McIntosh, a television and radio personality of nearly 30 years, owner of Victory Productions, and founder of A Stronger Cord, an organization to reinvolve and reintegrate men who have become isolated because of such issues as homelessness, substance abuse, a criminal past or military fatigue.

Community outreach and education was the keynote of the discussion.

Humanitarian and Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard expressed the importance of religion in the life of the community: “Religion is the first sense of community. Your sense of community occurs by reason of mutual experience with others. Where the religious sense of community and with it real trust and integrity can be destroyed, then that society is like a sandcastle unable to defend itself against the inexorable sea.”

And in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, chair of the committee that crafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world…Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”

For more information about United for Human Rights, visit www.HumanRights.com.