A Critical analysis of the freedom of thought, conscience and religion as instituted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Abstract

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the first legally binding international instrument to specifically address human rights and entitlements comprehensively. Other human rights instruments later adopted, cited it as a parental precedent. As it is clearly stated in the preamble of Universal Declaration of Human Rights that; “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of humankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.”  This paper uses an Interpretive Phenomenology Analysis (IPA); it is an approach to qualitative research with an idiographic focus and aims to offer insights into how a given person, in a given context, makes sense of a given phenomenon. It has its theoretical origins in phenomenology and hermeneutics, and key ideas from Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, for the purpose of this paper, only literature sources were used to substantiate the argument. Religious intolerance forms the basis of much other intolerance which could lead to human rights abuse, ideological polarization, lawlessness, homophobia, bigotry, tribalism and hate speech.