Right or Wrong? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Extra taxes

The Constitution of Medina was written by Muhammad himself. In exchange for paying extra taxes it guaranteed freedom of worship and rights to Jews, Christians and even various pagan religions which existed at that time. Among the sixty-three rulings included in this early form of constitution, this remarkable document also dealt with the security and rights of women, set in place steps to stabilise the various tribal factions, and granted protection and rights to individuals.

Answer: Paris

This document is the first universal attempt to guarantee rights to every human on earth. The horror of World War II was the impetus that set the wheels in motion for its creation. Other international documents attempting to guarantee rights for all, which followed on from this in succeeding years, included the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Bill on Human Rights.

In 1948, this first mighty document was adopted by a vote of forty-eight to nil. Eight countries abstained from voting.

These were the nations we came to know as USSR, Poland, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Saudia Arabia, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia and Belarus. In reality, given the world's history since that momentous date, this great document has proven to be somewhat of a toothless tiger.

Answer: French

This declaration in its basic form declared that the rights of all men were universal, and applicable at all times and in all places. It was adopted by the French National Assembly during that country's great revolution (1789-1799) when its entire way of life changed forever.

It was based on the ideals which were given birth during the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Declaration of the Rights of Man in its turn eventually led to the birth of the French constitution and modern France.

Answer: Natural rights are not man-made

Natural rights are universal and apply to everyone on the face of the planet, but more particularly, they are not based on legal direction. They are the pure, moral and inalienable rights of everyone. The right to life is an example of a natural right. Unfortunately however, in many countries of the world, natural rights are still very much abused by those in power. One day perhaps that will all change. Legal rights are created by man and based on a society's laws, values and customs. Aren't you glad you're not a lawyer, politician or philosopher trying to work out all the fine distinctions between those two categories of rights?

Answer: Yes

An example of the rights of a group taking precedence over the rights of an individual is that of a group of soldiers fighting under combat conditions. In this case all soldiers are working together for a common cause, either defence or attack. If one soldier in that group chooses to disobey a direct order from the officer in charge, thereby putting at risk the lives of all the other soldiers in that group, then their collective right takes precedence over his individual rights.

The soldier who chose to exercise his individual rights at that most inopportune time will therefore have to face up to the consequences of his actions.

Answer: United States Declaration of Independence

The United States Declaration of Independence was a document compiled by representatives from the thirteen original American colonies claiming independence from the control of the British Empire. Adopted by congress in 1776, it not only listed the colonies' grievance against the British King at that time, George III, it also demanded various natural and legal rights for American colonists. This document is one of the most famous documents in the world, not only for its historical impact, but also for its emphasis on, and the clarity of, its demand for human rights. With a nod to the influence of the English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) for his works during the Age of Enlightenment, the Declaration of Independence was drafted in the main by the great Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826).

Locke's original wording when speaking of human rights was "...life, liberty and estate...". Founding Father George Mason's (1725-1792) wording when he drafted an earlier Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 was "...life and liberty, and the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety...". Thomas Jefferson however, in agreement with Benjamin Franklin, agreed that the concept of property should be downplayed in the new document. The result was the beautiful, and poetical sounding clarion call for human rights, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".

Answer: Magna Carta

Otherwise known as the Great Charter of the Liberties of England, the Magna Carta was, on the one hand, a direct challenge to the ruling monarch's authority at that time, and, on the other, to proclaim various liberties and rights to the free men of England.

It was forced upon the king by a group of his barons who had had enough of the king's interference in what they saw as their traditional rights. This wasn't the first attempt to limit the power of royalty for this country. The 1100 Charter of Liberties had already set the precedent for that.

However, what was remarkable about the Magna Carta (which in itself was largely unsuccessful) was that it paved the way for individual rights, constitutional law, and the right for representative groups of freemen (as opposed to serfs) to set the parameters on the powers of a monarch.

Answer: Socialism

The ideals of socialism, regardless of how it actually translates to reality, include common owership of all goods and production, so that all goods and services may be distributed equally to all citizens of the state as their right, and as needed. Capitalism, its direct political opposite, is private and competitive ownership of the means of production, so that all goods and services may be distrubuted at a profit for the owners of same.

These are very, very simplified, black and white descriptions of both ideologies.

The reality for both comes in myriad shades of grey.

Answer: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

This Charter, created in 1982, forms the first part of Canada's Constitution. It guarantees political and civil rights to all Canadian citizens at all levels of society. It is an updated version of Canada's 1960 original Bill of Rights which was somewhat limited in scope and application.

Answer: No

It wasn't until 2009 that the Charter came into effect. This took place when the Treaty of Lisbon came into force in 2009. At its most basic, the Treaty of Lisbon cemented and legitimised the efficiency of the European Union and its actions. The Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union ensured various political, social and economic rights of all citizens within the European Union. One of the most striking points of difference in the lead up to the legitimisation of this incredibly important document was the proposal that European Union laws would take precedence over the laws of various countries within the Union, should those national laws come into conflict with the Union laws. That tooks years to sort out to the interim satisfaction of all concerned in 2009, but by 2012 was still being debated as to its full ramifications.

The future will prove that when, and if, this Charter's proposed substantive and basic rights of all citizens becomes an indisputed reality, it will, by implication, be one of the most important documents ever created by mankind.