song for theme #32: Valuing Human Rights

“Human Rights” by Stephen P. Cook

to be sung to the tune of “Glory Days” by Jack Allsopp / Bruce Springsteen

Moralistic bigots say to gay lovers

We passed a law, you two can’t marry

Rich white racists say to poor blacks

Try to vote, things will get scary

Mexican illegals picking our crops

Poisoned by pesticides—so what?

Cause trouble, we’ll call immigration¹

Or simply order your pay cut

Human Rights, we need to fight for them

Human Rights, if not now, then when?

Human Rights, Human Rights

Islamic extremists say to young girls

We don’t want you going to school

If you take off your headscarf in public

We can beat you, it’s there in the rules²

Wanna change your religion?³ No way

Even if you accepted Islam as a child

It’s blasphemy the penalty is death⁴

With stones the crowd will go wild

Human Rights, we need to fight for them

Human Rights, if not now, then when?

Human Rights, Human Rights

In mountains of Yemen, the shores of Tripoli

We target Islamic bad guys

With remote controlled drones, lasers lock on

We deliver bombs, quite a surprise

But I worry for every bad guy we kill

Many good innocent people die

Smart technology is stupid and criminal

If it brings injustice from the sky

Human Rights, we need to fight for them

Human Rights, if not now, then when?

Human Rights, Human Rights

I’m no terrorist just a simple civilian

Trying to make it in the USA

I value my privacy, I respect the law

And expect others to feel this way

It scares me thinking Big Brother is

Messing with my email, tapping my phone⁵

Today with computer, tomorrow with drones

I just wanna be left alone

Human Rights, we need to fight for them

Human Rights, if not now, then when?

Human Rights, Human Rights

SONG—NOTES / COMMENTS

1—Such a threat, perhaps made by growers in the California, might involve calling USA immigration authorities = INS =

      Immigration and Naturalization Service asking them to deport workers in the country illegally.

2—In Sudan, according to Amnesty International, this often happens, based on Sharia inspired law rule 152.

3—This is called apostasy, a crime under Sharia law most Islamic scholars feel deserves death or prison.

4—Pakistan has especially harsh blasphemy laws

5—Late 2013 revelations revealed that the USA National Security Agency (NSA) was illegally doing this.

Comment: Emotionally armed with this theme, you might expect others will respect your own rights and have less fear they won’t. Of course how you cope with those who threaten your own or others human rights is another matter. In their Protection Manual for Human Rights Defenders, the Frontline Defenders group identify numerous coping strategies. The ones to use depend on type of threat, environment, resources, etc.