Thomas More Institute

Category Archives: Human Rights

Published on
18 November 2013

The Excessive Simplicity of Legal Positivism and of Multiculturalism

Posted in Conscience, Culture, Human Life, Human Rights, Legal Affairs, Moral Philosophy, Morality in Public, Virtue

‘In any legal system, whether a given norm is legally valid, and hence whether it forms part of the law of that system, depends on its sources, not its merits.’This working definition of ‘legal positivism’ has a certain notoriety, even while it provokes disagreement. This legal tradition is popularly understood, and with some rationale, to […]

Published on
9 October 2013

Bureaucracy, Parental Abuse and Conscience

Posted in Civil Liberties, Conscience, Culture, Human Life, Human Rights, Morality in Public

In the aftermath of horrible deaths at parental hands of Baby P., Daniel Pelka, Hamzah Khan and Keanu Williams, questions are naturally being asked as to what more might have been done by way of prevention. Unsurprisingly, the parents of these poor boys have been sentenced to prison. On paper perhaps, and technically, the local […]

Published on
1 October 2013

Faith Schools and the Future of Secularism

Posted in British Politics, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Conscience, Education, Human Rights, Legal Affairs, Liberty, Morality in Public, Uncategorized

With publication of a series of YouGov polls the State’s funding of religious education is once again in the news. Secularists have renewed their assault on all things religious, and public and religious leaders have responded saying that State-backed faith schools are a ‘precious right’ and that it is wrong to drag children into an […]

Published on
19 July 2013

Reasons to Hope in the Pornography Debate

Posted in Civil Liberties, Ethics in the Media, Freedom, Human Rights, Marriage & Family, Morality in Public

The availability of pornography is nothing new, but reasons for prohibition need to be re-articulated, and sometimes re-discovered, as one generation succeeds another and re-evaluates what it has received of legislation and social mores from the past. There is no doubt that a certain public acceptance of pornography has grown significantly over the last twenty […]

Published on
12 July 2013

Britain and the European Convention on Human Rights

Posted in British Politics, Europe, Human Rights, Moral Philosophy, Morality in Public

In discussing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) it is essential, given current wrangling over matters European, to emphasise that membership of the Council of Europe which drafted the ECHR, and assent to the treaty, are matters quite distinct from that of membership of the European Union. While David Cameron may want to present […]

Published on
1 July 2013

PRISM and the Long View of Modern Secularism

Posted in Civil Liberties, Conscience, Culture, Human Rights, Legal Affairs, Liberty, Moral Philosophy, Public Policy, Religion, Social Commentary, Virtue

In order to maintain public order secularism in our time relies on well- established delineation of ‘public’ and ‘private’ realms. While attempting to play down divisions between social groups, secularism reinforces a distinction between public conduct and private life. In this way a moderate secularism can reduce public conflict by emphasising those aspects of public […]

Published on
13 May 2013

The Properties of Democracy

Posted in Culture, Human Rights, Liberty, Political Economy

In modern Britain the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association are rightly among those most treasured. Following on their heels is the right to property, although at times it seems a rather weaker cousin. Speaking and meeting with others come naturally, but owning property is a bit more involved. If, like most, […]