RIGHTS OF RELATIONSHIP

To speak of rights is to bring into consideration relationship. Being human is to be in relationship with another. The responsibilities of relationship define the rights each person in that relationship can expect to have. Such expectation becomes the basis for demands one makes on the other in a particular relationship. Right relationship considers rights and responsibilites adhering to living in the same world with another living person. All power must be directed at promoting life lived well. The less well another is able to live, the more those more able to live must consider how well they are able to respond. The healthier a society, the more able all can share in acting responsibly toward those less able to live well.

Coming to a common understanding of marriage and the family must be a priority for anyone hoping to comprehend human rights. Human rights are much less abused in a society which does not fail to foster healthy marriages and families. Families function best in such a healthy society. Humans living together as a family have more intimate expectations of one another than will be found in other relationships found in human society; healthy families bond through how well these expectations are communicated and met. Marriage is central to human family - healthy society will have the best environment possible for any marriage to flourish.

Ethics is the way one lives with others. Christian Ethics is the way one lives beyond one's own ablity in living with others. The demands of Christian Ethics require one to be more responsible in relating rightly with others; one may even forego one's own rightful expectations in order to live well with others. Such self-sacrifice imitates the sacrifical life of Jesus Christ, who gave Himself up for the life of others. The Christian hope is that a life lived sacrifically for the sake of Christ will bring satisfaction beyond what can be expected from a more self-indulgent life that is much less considerate of others. The expectation of Christian ethics is that this way of life leads beyond death to eternal joy in the presence of God, in whom all humankind has been created.