Baha’i hosts 12th annual human rights awards

The Baha’is of Ventura County sponsored the 12th Annual Baha’i Human Rights Awards luncheon last Sunday at Embassy Suites, Mandalay Beach Resort in Oxnard, honoring individuals who have served others in the spirit of the 30 articles found in the Declaration of Human Rights.

Dec. 10 was the 54th anniversary of the adoption and proclamation of the Declaration of Human Rights by the U.N.’s General Assembly. This legal document sadly hides in the shadow of the Bill of Rights and is seldom taught in public schools. But at Sunday’s event, it received a tremendous amount of praise and recognition.

Master of ceremony Gary Bulkin asked the rhetorical question, "What is it that makes us human? It has something to do with our nature, our ability and freedom to make choices, right and wrong." It’s a reason to celebrate, he said.

Keynote speaker Dr. F. Bethel, a licensed clinical psychologist, spoke about the importance of having a developed inner self to be free of racism. Bethel was born and raised in Iran and was taught as a child in school that the Persian race was superior to all. She said if her parents hadn’t taught her otherwise, she’d have been more likely to believe it. She stressed how important it is for mothers and teachers to instruct children on the concept of oneness in the human race.

Using a skinhead patient she once treated as an example, Bethel said that when the inner self isn’t developed, people begin to look at the outer self and judge by skin color and other outward characteristics of different cultures. Her patient began to change when he looked inward to explore his own human nature.

Bethel closed by saying that people should also closely examine the extremes of poverty and wealth in America, and find solutions to bridge that gap, restoring dignity to the impoverished and removing greed from the wealthy.

A man with one such solution, Rick Schroeder, an Agoura Hills resident and attorney, received an award Sunday for his efforts in restoring dignity to the impoverished. Schroeder is founder and executive director of Many Mansions, an organization that provides housing for low-income families, homeless individuals and the mentally ill.

Referring to the Declaration of Human Rights, Schroeder said, " They have no meaning unless we give them life by putting them into action." He added that every human is born free with a right to dignity, emphasizing the motivation behind Many Mansions. Along with housing, Many Mansions provides on-site counseling, job-training, daycare, free health clinics and food sharing.

In the spirit of the Baha’i faith, Freddie Ravel and K.C. Porter entertained the guests by performing John Lennon’s Imagine, a song which encourages and celebrates the concept of the oneness of the human race, a concept central to the doctrine of the Baha’is.