MOST people, including those with no specific religious commitment, would probably accept that the basic teachings of Christianity as set out in the gospels have much to commend them.
The Sermon on the Mount, for example, is valued well beyond the bounds of traditional Christianity. Caring for widows and orphans, turning the other cheek, making peace - commitments like these make a great deal of sense when we consider the alternatives, given that we have to live together sharing the same space.
Yet when it comes to comes to delivery we so often fail. This is underlined in a recent report by the Irish Human Rights Commission, which is critical of our failure as a people to address the needs of specific vulnerable and needy groups. It tells of our Government's failure to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It points out that promised educational resources for children with disabilities in mainstream education have not been delivered. It tells us that the commission has asked the UN Human Rights Committee to examine this State's refusal to recognise the Traveller community as an ethnic minority.
The commission also draws attention to the failure to ensure "minimum human rights standards in Irish prisons"; and it is concerned at the poor level of social rehabilitation programmes, and the shortcomings in drug counselling and other support services.
It is easy to blame the Government for such failures, but the recent referendum poll reminds us that governments don't always have the final say. And in relation to some of the issues raised in this report, while we may be sympathetic to particular needs, politicians may realise that as taxpayers we are not willing to provide the necessary resources. In matters to do with prisoners' rights we often have little sympathy or understanding and support demands for justice in terms that suit us and which are often selective and prejudiced. Incidentally, the Christian must never forget that mercy is not a contradiction of justice but a contradiction of vengeance.
"Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy." In tomorrow's gospel reading, the "Sermon on the Mount", Jesus emphasises the importance of the individual person by telling his hearers that they are greatly valued, that "even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows."
Previous generations might have smiled at the notion that God would have known them in such detail, but in the age of forensic science, of fingerprinting and DNA, we know more and more about the uniqueness of every individual. This is underlined by recent techniques in eye identification, where it is said that no two irises are alike in the entire human population, including identical twins.
This sense of uniqueness has implications for each of us, but especially for those who believe life is a gift. It reminds us that our value is not measured in personal achievements or failures, nor limited by social status or age. Whatever our circumstances, the value placed on each of us is a human birthright, conferred by the Lord, the giver of life. If it is true for some, it has to be true for all, with implications for the way we treat each other and care for each other. There is a real hint of Easter about this, for it is ultimately about raising men and women from wherever they are now to where God intended them to be. The Human Rights Commission is showing the way.
"I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights." - Bishop Desmond Tutu. GL