Human Rights or Religious Rules?

Abstract

The many problems facing society today oft en raise the question of where to find ideals, principles, values and norms to deal with them. It starts with marriage and the family: how do we promote equality between husband and wife? What ideals are worth passing on to our children and future generations? How do we strike a balance between protecting our private lives and the social tasks awaiting us in our neighbourhood, suburb, city and region? Th e latter already takes us from the micro level of emotional security in a small, intimate circle, to the meso level of social groups, communities and institutions. Here too there are umpteen questions.