They have merit insofar as they enable the realisation of high purpose. The great aspirations of mankind have been expressed in the past by soaring words and inspiring actions. Three thousand five hundred years ago one of the towering figures in human history led a people into the desert in vindication of their right to freedom. His command 'Let my people go' had finally been heeded. Two thousand years ago the founder of one of the world's greatest religions proclaimed the c ommunity of the world's people and the entitlement of all to share in it with dignity and freedom.
People yearn for peace, freedom, equity and community.
All people have a right to those things. On a map of the world there are blots where those rights are denied by the very governments whose duty it is to foster them. Torture, enslavement, murder and degradation are pursued as policies of state. Happily, Australians are free of those gross assaults by government. Unhappily, there are factors in Australia which inhibit people from obtaining that quality of peace, freedom, equity and community to which their humanity makes them inherently entitled.