1.1 Value Systems

How do we humans perceive the world and what distinguishes us from animals?

Animals live in the moment, the concrete present. They are aware of themselves. A dog knows who it is, knows its own name and reacts to it. But it has no extended consciousness; it cannot imagine things and therefore, unlike humans, it is not capable of including the past and its expectations for the future in its evaluation of the present.

By contrast, humans can imagine things. They can envision things that do not exist in reality, but only in their imaginations—in their plans, their goals, their aspirations, and their dreams.

Humans can imagine things that do not exist.

By including the future or the past in our considerations and, while doing so, imagining things that simply do not exist, we can plan and shape the future.

This ability enables us to build a set of values. By creating concepts that are a product of our fantasy, we can establish ways of thinking and behaving that we consider to be correct. Many people develop their own behavioral rules by establishing principles according to which they conduct their lives. Often, however, these ways of thinking and behaving are not shaped by the individual. Rather, they come from the culture into which we are born. From our childhood onward, we perceive them as a set of values to live by. Sometimes we are inspired by a role model, i.e. a leader who propagates a set of values. Others begin to adhere to these rules. The leader can be religious or political. Religious leaders may be cult leaders, gurus, even founders of religions, or prophets. Political leaders who create and spread their own sets of values are autocrats or dictators such as Hitler, who, in fact, introduced National Socialism as a set of values. Such value systems can develop over a long period of time and, as the example of religion shows us, they can also last for a very long time. Yet, they can also emerge and disappear again quite quickly, as we can see in the codes of conduct adopted by youth gangs or sects.

A value system consists of common ideas and common rules of behavior for a group of people.

Some questions that address the idea and behavioral patterns include: What should we believe in and what is considered heretical? How do we greet each other? By shaking hands, by bowing to each other, by giving the Hitler salute, or as young people do today, by slapping upraised hands? Is premarital sex allowed or strictly forbidden? Is there a positive attitude towards homosexuality (as in ancient Greece) or negative? Is killing other humans allowed and if so, when (in war, in retaliation, or as a death penalty)? Are we in favor of democracy or do we prefer strong central leadership (autocracy or even National Socialism, etc.)?

Unlike animals, humans can create value systems. There were and are numerous value systems in which humans live. We call them ideologies, religions or cultures (even a corporate culture is such a system). These value systems connect those concerned (a clan, a company or a whole nation), and hold them together, enabling them to strive toward a common goal. And it is because of these systems that humans are capable of building organizations; no animal could build a NASA.

Because the people in a value system share the same views, it is possible to create a feeling of unity within the group—be it a clan or thousands of individuals—and then steer their activities in the same direction. Today it is possible to align and mobilize larger masses of people towards the same shared values. This is how political ideologies, myths, or even religions were created.

By living in a society with other “like-minded people”, humans perceive their value system as their culture and therefore as equitable. They will rarely question it seriously. On the contrary, they will defend it with irrational arguments and respond emotionally and at worst aggressively. But if they doubt the value system in which they live, they will rarely say so publicly, because doing so would place them in the minority and they would become outsiders. Accordingly, examining such systems from the outside and determining which system is really fair and which system brings moral or economic progress to humanity is justified. Justifications made by supporters living within a system lack sufficient rationality.

1.2 Development of Human Rights

Human rights are one of the most important value systems of all and have been gaining enormously in importance all over the world. In the western world they have become the very basis of coexistence.

Europe is the cradle of human rights.

Human rights are a European achievement and while they have been adopted in areas with a European heritage (the USA, Canada, Australia, etc.) and in some Asian countries (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan), they still lack tradition in other parts of the world, where they are often rejected. They have developed in steps over the centuries and were often followed by autocratic phases in which freedoms were once again suppressed. Historically, this has happened in cycles. What is important is that human rights did not get lost in this process. Instead, they have remained in human consciousness and taken on even stronger forms. They continue to develop today.

Freedom of opinion and freedom of speech as the core of human rights were already considered to be essential in ancient Greece, where democracy was tested for the first time. They were adopted in Rome during the Republican phase. However, these rights were granted only to Roman citizens who were allowed to express themselves freely during public assemblies. Many others were subjected to inhumane slavery within the society. Human rights were also suppressed during the Middle Ages. In this dark period of European history, the value system was dictated from above by an authoritarian regime. God, as represented by his governors on earth as well as secular rulers, determined how human beings were to behave and what they were to believe.

It was not until the reformation that people once again railed against autocratic authorities. The European Enlightenment then ushered in change reaching an initial zenith during the French Revolution with calls of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité demanding freedom and equality for people. Churches were plundered and secularized. The royal family was beheaded. The freedoms of opinion and speech enjoyed during ancient times were revived. These values were honed and came to include freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. Later, the right to own property and the principle of freedom of trade and industry were added. Of course, each epoch has its roots in previous ones. Even the Enlightenment, which was a time when people came to be considered rational beings who could decide independently about matters of truth and fallacy, had its roots in the philosophies of thinkers from earlier times. There have also been setbacks, for example, during the time of Napoleon, who involved all of Europe in war; or, more recently seen, during the last two horrific world wars.

It is, however, important to note that the desire for freedom and justice that had been awakened in the minds of people stayed with them and it was not possible for an autocrat to completely suppress this desire. On the contrary, after every setback, human rights have taken on improved forms; they were honed and even secured in the European Human Rights Convention. They have been included in the constitutions of most modern European countries as well as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, which means that they should actually apply worldwide.

1.3 Separation of Church and State

An important step was the separation of church and state, which in Europe meant not only separating the church from the state but requiring the church to submit to the rules of the state. The authoritarian political structure created by the church and the crown during the Middle Ages, which dictated values from above, was gradually replaced. With the church now subordinate to the state, government authorities established a system of values through laws, which were increasingly adopted through democratic processes. Many of these laws were in direct opposition to religious values, reducing the influence of the Church. The more democratically and economically developed a region became, the less influence the church had.

Western Christian tradition is sometimes referred to as a value and is equated with humanism, freedom of expression, and even religious freedom and peace. This view assumes that such values are realized because of the role they play in western Christian culture. However, this point of view fails to recognize that the changes brought about by the Reformation and especially the Enlightenment were necessary in order to give individuals back the freedom to think whatever they wanted. Only since then have people been free in their beliefs. Religious freedom is based on western liberal tradition. It was enforced against the will of Catholic institutions and the aristocracy. Ultimately, civil liberties are not based in the Christianity of the Roman Catholic Church of the day, but in the subordination and subjugation of the church to governmental laws that respect the tradition of human rights and democracy. In the Middle Ages, Christianity, like many religions, was neither peaceful nor liberal. The Church was intolerant, considered Christianity to be the only true religion, and demanded it be spread though missionary work. It was only because of the Reformation and especially the Enlightenment, as well as the de facto dissolution of the Papal States by Napoleon, that the Church became a peaceful western tradition.

The Roman Catholic Church as an autocratic institution has to be differentiated from a Christianity that could be interpreted differently from the Bible than it is by Catholic hierarchies with their claim of infallibility. Christianity must also be differentiated from the individual faiths that are respected today in most of the forms which humans have developed in their fantasies. These beliefs have nothing in common with an ecclesiastical clerical set of values.

The concept of “God” has changed over time. Because humans can imagine things which do not exist, in antiquity they fabricated a world of gods by telling stories which included gods, ghosts, fairies, etc. Later this concept changed. The earlier myths were replaced by the concept of a God, whereby there were also always other divine beings around (angels, saints, etc.). This God is all powerful. He can be prayed to; He leads His people, and He can perform miracles. However, this concept of God as a mastermind, who can communicate with millions of people individually and who even supports opposing sidesFootnote 1 in a conflict, also became implausible during the course of the Enlightenment. The concepts of God changed again. In western welfare states in particular, there is a trend away from religion. The number of agnostics, who only believe in a distant power, as well as the number of atheists is increasing.Footnote 2 According to the most recent surveys, very few people in Europe still believe in either heaven or hell, and only 40% of people believe in life after death.Footnote 3 If there is no life after death, is there even a God?

1.4 Democracy with Separation of Powers

The absolute entitlement of the monarchy and the authoritarian behavior of the Catholic church have been set aside in the west. Despite numerous setbacks, a value system based on human rights—especially individual freedoms—has emerged since the Enlightenment.

However, so that these values could be guaranteed in the long term, it was also necessary to adapt the authority of the State. Autocratic rulers were no longer tolerated.Footnote 4 Montesquieu advocated the separation of powers, which became the system of “checks and balances” in the United States. Democracy could be established. It was based on the power of the people. This new value system created in Europe is democracy based on human rights.Footnote 5