By Contributor on December 12, 2013

By Mindy Townsend

I haven't always been very excited by the skeptic movement. It's not like I believed in a lot of woo, but I just couldn't get too worked up about Loch Ness or Bigfoot or UFO abductions. What's more, as a non-scientist, I didn't feel like I had anything to add.

As regular readers of this blog might know, I'm a lawyer by training, and I like to communicate to non-lawyers those legal concepts that aren't immediately recognizable. My main passion has been human rights and I've spent a big chunk of my time since I graduated working to make the whole concept more popular in the United States. Skepticism and the promotion of science always took a back seat to my human rights work.

Then it occurred to me: Advancing human rights and promoting science and reason are the same thing. Let me explain.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is the primary international human rights document. The UDHR was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 as a result of the horrors of World War II. It enumerates several rights that we take for granted, like freedom of speech (Art. 19) and the right to a fair trial (Art. 8). There are also some less accepted rights, at least in the United States, like the right to join a union (Art. 23) and a right to an education (Art. 26).

Over the years, I have spent a fair amount of time studying this and other human rights instruments, but it wasn't until recently that I noticed the link between scientific knowledge and human rights. That link is Article 27 of the UDHR.

To wit:

Article 27


Emphasis mine.

Interesting, isn't it? Everyone has a right to enjoy scientific advancements. I sounds pretty simple and straight forward. It doesn't mean that everyone has the right to an iPhone, but it does mean that knowledge should be relatively free-flowing. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) expands on the concept further in Article 15:

Article 15

  • (1) The States Parties to the present covenant recognize the right of everyone:
    • (a) To take part in cultural life;
    • (b) To enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications;
  • (3) The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity.

The plot thickens! Nations that are party to the ICESCR pledge to promote, proliferate, and protect scientific knowledge. The international human rights community has long recognized that science isn't just totally awesome, but access to the knowledge gleaned by studying the world around us is necessary for us as people to develop to our full potential.

Think for a second about recent legislation in the United States. Last month, Tennessee passed a law that allows science teachers to deny evolution and climate change without repercussions. Several years ago, the board of education of my home state of Kansas made national headlines by putting "intelligent design" in the state science guidelines. These aren't the first attacks on science education, and, unfortunately, these won't be the last.

Each of these examples are governmental efforts to deny scientific knowledge from its citizens (otherwise known as "humans" or "people"). When you look at these interferences in the context of the above mentioned human rights instruments, it starts to look more serious.

Not only is the denial of proper science education just dumb policy, it's a human rights denial. Sure, it's not crushing your civilian population with an iron fist, but the purpose of the human rights treaties and resolutions is not solely to avoid violence. The purpose is to affirm the dignity of every human being and to give every person the opportunity to live up to their potential. Not everyone has the same potential. Not everyone will grow up to be great scientists. But the opportunity shouldn't be denied.

The state is under a responsibility to diffuse scientific knowledge and encourage scientific advancement by providing the freedom to do scientific research. None of this is possible without adequate science education. Not everyone has access to the Internet or a great library. But most people in the United States have access to school. If schools won't provide accurate scientific information, then it's letting everyone down in more ways than one.

As a human rights activist, it needs to be my job to fight for science education at all levels. As a skeptical activist, it needs to be my job to fight for the human right of all people to learn about science and defend scientific knowledge. It's two sides of the same coin.

Mindy Townsend is an attorney and managing editor of Teen Skepchick. Follow her on Twitter. Republished with permission.

Photo: Flickr user U.S. Navy, creative commons licensed.


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A fun event ridiculed reactionaries and upheld women's reproductive rights.

By Jenni Dye


By Matthew Rothschild

So Eric Holder is finally resigning as Attorney...

By Wendell Berry

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more 
of everything ready made. Be afraid 
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery 
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card 
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something 
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know. 
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord. 
Love the world. Work for nothing. 
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it. 
Denounce the government and embrace 
the flag. Hope to live in that free 
republic for which it stands. 
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man 
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers. 
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested 
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus 
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion—put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come. 
Expect the end of the world. Laugh. 
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts. 
So long as women do not go cheap 
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy 
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep 
of a woman near to giving birth? 
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head 
in her lap. Swear allegiance 
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos 
can predict the motions of your mind, 
lose it. Leave it as a sign 
to mark the false trail, the way 
you didn’t go. Be like the fox 
who makes more tracks than necessary, 
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.


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Progressive Media Project