Introduction Activities
You can use one or more of these activities to help your students start thinking about their beliefs and assumptions around the concept of ‘human dignity’ and its common expression in the form of ‘human rights’.
Read & Respond
- Article: Homo uneconomicus (1 min)
As a class read the article and then ask the students to brainstorm other examples (real and fictional) when significant resources have been put towards saving a single human life – possibly making it a challenge to find the most expensive rescue in history.
Group Discussion
Discuss whether or not there should ever be a price limit put on what it costs to rescue someone. Pose the question, “How do we put a value on a life?” (Reference things like travel insurance payout limits as a practical example.)
Ask the students to explain why they think human life is so valuable?
UN Declaration of Human Rights
Look at the opening paragraph of the United Nations ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ Preamble. Draw attention to the foundational presupposition of the document. “the inherent dignity … and inalienable rights of all the human family.”
In pairs students write a definition for ‘Human Dignity’, they use a generative AI to improve on their first draft. Responses are shared with the class and a class definition is developed. (Avoid introducing Biblical ideas at this point).
Pose the question “Why do we believe this is true?”
Introduce the unit as an exploration of what it is that makes humans unique and valuable, what the Bible teaches, what Christians believe, and how that shapes our response to a whole range of ethical issues.