[troutman]

Originally Posted by starseed

I think that civilization does progress because do not live in a perfect society, and we will always try to make our society perfect. We invented the idea of 'human rights' and we are still trying to understand what that means, and how important they are. Can 'human rights' trump 'cultural rights'?

U.N. - Universal Declaration Of Human Rights:

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

Article 2.

• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 5.

• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Article 10.

• Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers...f_Human_Rights

Some Islamic countries have criticised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for its perceived failure to take into the account the cultural and religious context of Islamic countries. In 1982, the Iranian representative to the United Nations, Said Rajaie-Khorassani, articulated the position of his country regarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by saying that the UDHR was "a secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition", which could not be implemented by Muslims without trespassing the Islamic law.[19] On 30 June 2000, Muslim nations that are members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference[20] officially resolved to support the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam,[21] an alternative document that says people have "freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic Shari’ah".[22] However, this document does not guarantee freedom of religion or gender equality, the root of many criticisms against its usage.