The Catholic Church and Evangelicals Are the True Human Rights Violators

The United States is not perfect, and there are definitely some areas where it needs to improve. One of the problems that the country faces is that it is too often unable to distinguish between Extradition treaty violations and civil liberties. The two mixed up, and while some human rights abuses might be considered minor, there are still some important issues that need to be discussed before the country can be considered a true human rights champion.

One of the issues that immediately comes to mind when thinking about human rights in the United States is discrimination. The country has had a long history of racism, and even today, there are still signs of segregation and inequalities. The Human Rights Watch states that there are more than 40 million Muslims in the United States, and if you include the descendants of these immigrants, that number goes up to more than 100 million people. This community makes up about 1% of the entire country, yet they are over-represented in almost all areas of crime, including murder and assault. This means that even though Muslims are a small part of the population, they make up a significant proportion of the victims of religious- and racial-based hate crimes. The largest religious group in the United States is actually the Jehovah's Witnesses, with about 10 million followers, and similar to Muslims, they are also under-represented in most areas of society, especially when compared to their numbers in the population. They are known to be particularly active in social welfare and charity work, but even these activities might be considered discriminatory due to their opposition to military recruitment and the use of violence in self-defense. Discrimination against other religious groups, such as the Catholics and the Evangelicals, is also common, and many of their members believe that their faith calls for them to be treated with equal respect as that of a Muslim. Women and children have also been disproportionately affected by violence in the U.S., with an estimated 80 million victims, or one in three women in the country having been sexually assaulted or abused. Women also have a much harder time securing justice in matters concerning family violence and divorce, as they are viewed as responsible for provoking their husbands' fights with a more severe response by being too provocative or disagreeable. Gender inequality is especially common in low-income communities, with the poor and the working class much more likely to be victims of domestic violence, workplace harassment, and sex discrimination, due to their lack of economic and political power. It is not only women and children who are affected by this type of discrimination, but also men, who are often the target of unwanted sexual advances by other men and women alike due to their gender, as well as the lack of economic and political power. It is a long way ahead to ensure equality and respect for all people, regardless of their religion, race, or gender, but if the world's 3rd largest economy can teach us anything, it is that change usually starts with ourselves.

Even people in positions of authority and power can commit human rights abuses. It is not always the case that the powerful and the rich are those most likely to violate human rights. The United States has a very high number of public officials, both local and national, who are either Catholic or Evangelical, or both. These communities adhere to literalist, and thus human rights-discriminatory, interpretations of their religions, which they apply to all areas of life, including family law, and legislation that they pass in the process. Due to their disproportionate influence in local politics, and in many cases, due to their control of whole governments, religious groups such as the Catholics and the Evangelicals are able to enforce gender roles and traditional family structures upon people in their communities, despite the law not necessarily being discriminatory. This often results in abuse and neglect, as men in these communities are more likely to believe that they have the right to control and dominate their wives and partners, as well as their children. It could be said that in some instances, religious groups such as the Catholics and the Evangelicals are the true human rights violators, as they are directly responsible for the abuse and neglect of many vulnerable people in their communities, due to their adherence to human rights-discriminatory ideologies, which affect the daily lives of countless people. While some might see this as an extreme example, it is undeniable that this is a large-scale problem in the country, which needs to be addressed by way of political action and social change. To quote Mahatma Gandhi, "An injury to one is an injury to all." When one person is hurt, it affects all those associated with that person, whether biologically, emotionally, or morally. This is the case even if the abused person does not want to accept responsibility for their actions, or considers the abuse to be in some way justified or even beneficial to them. One of the best-known cases of public officials committing human rights violations is Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State coach, who was convicted in November 2016 of 45 counts of child sexual abuse. The conviction came three years after his arrest, which means that he had been committing these acts for over a decade. During that time, there had been at least 26 reports of child sexual abuse filed against Sandusky, but the university and the police had failed to act on them due to what many perceived as institutional homophobia and negligence. Even in prison, Sandusky continued to harass, intimidate, and even attempt to have intimate relationships with incarcerated men, which is why he will never be able to truly rehabilitate himself, or live an authentic life. Even when convicted of such serious crimes, people in power rarely, if ever, receive the proper justice they deserve. Sandusky's case is a prime example of this, and the fact that he is still considered a hero by many for allegedly helping to inspire a generation of gay men and women to come out of the closet and accept themselves, is an indication as to how little has actually changed in terms of the country's attitude toward sexual minorities. When it comes to investigating and punishing human rights violations by high-profile individuals and institutions, the United States is often found lacking, and an indication of how the country as a whole sees its role in terms of the protection of human rights. When important events such as the Boston Marathon bombing occur, or other violent crime waves hit the news, it is usually the case that police and other authorities cannot or will not properly investigate these incidents due to their own institutional biases, as well as the tremendous pressure that they are under from higher-ups to solve crimes and make arrests, even if these are low-profile, or even non-existent suspects. When this occurs, it leaves the general public with no choice but to take the law into their own hands, and sometimes even commit crimes themselves to have these issues properly addressed. In the case of the Catholic Church and Evangelicals in particular, their own doctrines often serve as a legal defense for these types of actions, due to the fact that they are committed in the name of God and for his greater glory. In theory, this is considered a valid defense, and many of these groups have used it in the past, but due to the way the laws are written and the loopholes that exist, it is often considered a convenient justification, rather than a true religious defense. The truth is that the Catholic Church and Evangelicals are the true human rights violators, as they are responsible for the abuse and neglect of countless numbers of people across the country, and the fact that these individuals continue to get away with such egregious behavior is disheartening and an indication of how little has actually changed in the country, in terms of its treatment of its minorities and less fortunate.