AIMS:
- To show that Christians in Cambridge have made a huge contribution to human rights issues in local, national and international arenas.
- To show the relevance of these past human rights campaigns to the world we live in today.
In the twenty-first century we live in a largely secular society. In the past people lived within a society based on a Christian framework. Whilst some people merely existed within the religious structure, many took their faith very seriously, and used it in a very fruitful and meaningful way. The sort of values which inspired people in the past to look beyond themselves to their help fellow human beings are the same values which continue to inspire us today. We give money to charities that help people in times of famine, dig wells to provide clean water, and carry out immunisation programmes. Some of us sponsor third world children, buy fair trade goods, write letters to support amnesty international and send textbooks and stationary to under-resourced schools.
Our own country is not exempt from need and injustice. The 2010 Rowntree report shows that 13.1 million people in Britain are living in poverty; there is a rise in the levels of children not reaching basic levels of literacy and numeracy; inequalities in health determined by class and/or income remain wide and persistent; and poor households lack access to essential services. In Britain today people are illegally trafficked to work in factories and fields, and are even forced into prostitution. In 21st century Britain it is legal to incarcerate the children of asylum-seekers.
These are all issues with which we engage using the same sensibilities that inspired our forebears, and are as relevant now as they were then.