TO QUALIFY, YOU MUST COMPLY WITH ALL REQUIREMENTS!
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ESSAY & VIDEO TOPIC
INTRODUCTION:
On December 10, 1948, in the aftermath of World War II, the fledgling United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR). It was the first international protocol to define the inalienable human rights of all people.
As such, it has been enormously influential in the development of constitutions, treaties, national and international
laws, and organizations that promote human rights. Article 18 of the UDHR declares: "Everyone has the right to freedom
of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either
alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice,
worship and observance."
Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, chaired the document's drafting committee.
On the 10th anniversary of its adoption, she presented a booklet to United Nations Commissioners entitled, In Your Hands:
A Guide for Community Action for the Tenth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the booklet's introduction
she wrote: "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that
they cannot be seen on any map of the world."
In 1998, 50 years after the passage of the Universal Declaration, the United States Congress enacted the International Religious
Freedom Act, which outlines means of making religious freedom an important focus for American foreign policy. The Act reads in part,
"Standing for liberty and standing for the persecuted, [it shall be U.S. policy] to use and implement appropriate tools in the United States
foreign policy apparatus...to promote respect for religious freedom by all governments and people."
Americans also sometimes wonder what they, themselves, can or cannot do - "close to home" - to advance religious freedom in distant lands.
TOPIC:
- Should the advancement of freedom of religion be a part of U.S. foreign policy? If so, why? If not, why not?
What challenges might the United States face in trying to advance religious freedom internationally?
(Please support your arguments with academically respected sources that consider differing views.)
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Does religious oppression half way around the world affect you and other citizens? If so, how? If not, why not?
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How does Eleanor Roosevelt's statement that universal human rights begin in "small places, close to home - so close and so small
that they cannot be seen on any map of the world" apply to you and the impact that you and your generation can have on the
advancement of freedom of religion and conscience now and in the future, at home and abroad?
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IF YOU ARE WRITING AN ESSAY, YOUR ESSAY IS TO INCLUDE:
TITLE
Identifies the focus of your presentation.
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
Attracts the reader's attention
Clearly states a thesis--the
main point that you will make
Briefly outlines the other points that you will make
BODY
Explains and describes one by one your
points on the topic using:
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1.
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Specific references to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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2.
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Specific references to the International Religious Freedom Act
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3.
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Specific examples from U.S. history
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4.
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Specific examples illustrating how you and your generation can or cannot advance freedom of religion
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CONCLUSION
Sums up your research and reviews your main points without restating
them exactly.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OR WORKS CITED
In support of your views, cites
your references and validates your research. (Refer to
Guidelines for more details.)
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IF YOU ARE PRODUCING A VIDEO, YOUR VIDEO IS TO INCLUDE:
INTRODUCTION
Provides compelling content that hooks the viewer and draws interest
to the topic.
CONTENT
Presents a clear statement of purpose
and message through a rich variety of images and audio.
Displays and argues your points on the topic using:
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1.
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Specific references to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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2.
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Specific references to the International Religious Freedom Act
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3.
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Specific examples from U.S. history
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4.
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Specific examples illustrating how you and your generation can or cannot advance freedom of religion
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CONCLUSION
Sums up your message with a clear, persuasive and memorable ending.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In support of your views, cites
your references and validates your research. (Refer to
Guidelines for more details.)
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When Eleanor Roosevelt presented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to the United Nations,
she observed in her speech: "We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind.
This Universal Declaration of Human Rights may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere.
We hope its proclamation by the General Assembly will be an event comparable to the proclamation of the Declaration of the
Rights of Man by the French people in 1789, the adoption of the Bill of Rights by the people of the United States,
and the adoption of comparable declarations at different times in other countries."
On October 10, 1998, U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton signed into law the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA),
after it had been unanimously passed by both the House and the Senate. The law makes reference to the United States' historic
protection of the right to religious freedom, as well as to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a number of other
international treaties and instruments. The law requires the United States to "promote" international religious freedom and
to issue an annual report about religious freedom in all countries, except the United States. The law established an
Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom in the State Department and a quasi-independent United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom. Both were created to implement this law.
[Click here for more background information.]
Some advocates of the IRFA's goals believe that if Americans had greater "religious-freedom literacy" themselves,
they could influence their leaders to increase efforts to strengthen religious-freedom rights worldwide. Advocates
note that a strong climate of religious freedom can help in the prevention and resolution of violent conflicts,
to build democratic rule-of-law societies, and to advance prosperity. Critics of the IRFA, however, have suggested
that the law was enacted to please Evangelical Christians who wanted only to advance Christianity.
The law has also been criticized for elevating "religious freedom" as a foreign-policy goal, rather than addressing
the wider international concept of "freedom of religion and belief."
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SUGGESTED RESEARCH
SOURCES
(optional)
Dreisbach, Daniel, Mark Hall, Jeffrey Morrison, eds. The Founders on God and Government. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2004.
Glendon, Mary Ann. A World Made New. New York: Random House, 2001.
Lauren, Paul Gordon. The Evolution of International Human Rights. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.
Hackett, Rosalind I.J., Mark Silk, and Dennis Hoover, eds. Religious Persecution as a U.S. Policy Issue. Hartford, Connecticut: Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life, 2000.
Hertzke, Allen D. Freeing God's Children. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. 2004.
Lerner, Natan. Religion, Beliefs, and International Human Rights. Maryknoll Orbis Books, New York, NY, 2000.
Marshall, Paul, ed. Religious Freedom on the World. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2008.
McDougall, Walter A. Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter with the World Since 1776. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.
Witte, John. Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment. Boulder/New York/Oxford: Westview Press/Perseus Books Group, 2005.
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