Introduction

This topic is on how to use two specifically designed databases for the 1981 U.N. Declaration. The Global Resources Database and Community Information Database are found in Part IV: Supporting Documents. They are manual simulated mockups to teach monitors how to think about global resources and community information for monitoring the 1981 U.N. Declaration. The first simulation is used to learn how to create a file of community resources, for research in writing a community report on freedom of religion or belief, that can be transferred to a global resources database, and the second simulation to learn how to order community information on the articles, paragraphs and terms of the 1981 U.N. Declaration for the same purpose.

Objectives

To understand how to use a global resources database for linking community and global research; to understand how to use a community information database on the U.N. 1981 Declaration, to order information in preparation for writing a community report.

• Global Resources Database
• Community Information Database

In the previous study topic the 1981 U.N. Declaration was described as a paradigm or model to explain a complex process, a way to order, generalize, understand relationships, distinguish what is important from unimportant and show us a path to achieve a goal. This U.N. approach, while not agnostic, might be described as a balanced application of this principle, taking no position on the idea of God or the ultimate meaning of life. As an inclusive human rights paradigm, it is a platform for dialogue and tolerance between exclusive claims of religions or beliefs.

Agnosticism is a term coined by T.H. Huxley in response to repeated questions from the London Metaphysical Society in 1859 as to whether, as a result of Darwin’s Origin of Species, he believed in God or not. Huxley explained the term as “suspended belief, always open to conviction.” In an article years later he said, “Agnostics have no creed but a method, the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle. That principle is of great antiquity; it is as old as Socrates, it is the axiom that every man and woman should be able to give a reason for the faith that is in them; it is the principle of Descartes; it is the fundamental axiom of modern science. The only obligation is to have the mind always open to conviction.” 10

For the 1981 U.N. Declaration to be effective, a person must be clear that it is a rigorous process of investigation, as opposed to a theistic or atheistic exclusive belief claim. It then can become a mechanism for protection, with procedures for ensuring accountability of how religions or beliefs are manifested. If the model is the 1981 U.N. Declaration, the databases are the road signs to show us how to proceed in an orderly direction. They give us the resources and the information for a reasoned application, enabling us to define a path or road map to achieve a desired goal through a written community report on freedom of religion or belief.

1. Global Resources Database

The simulated Global Resources Database is available in Part IV: Supporting Documents. Turn to the database and read the introduction. The purpose is to collect data and find resources at local and global levels helpful for research, interviews and dialogue in preparation for writing a community report on freedom of religion or belief. There are four components, identification, three files, resource fields and a community list. Monitors must learn how to use this database and how to construct their own community resource list before beginning to study Part II: The 1981 U.N. Declaration.

• Entry, Files, Fields: The data entry process starts by identifying an institution, organization, group or person as a resource and entering a brief one paragraph abstract of how it/they relate to freedom of religion or belief. It is then placed in one of three files; 1981 U.N. Declaration, Other Human Rights Documents, Supporting Resources. Each data entry is then identified under one of twelve resource fields and its sub-fields. Review the twelve resource fields in the database. Answer the question in the Notes section for this study topic.
  
• List of Community Resources: The first task of Part II: The 1981 U.N. Declaration is to learn how the community currently relates to matters of religion or belief. There are directions in the simulation Global Resources Database on how to create a list of 25 resources as contacts. Read the introduction to “Community Resource List.” Answer the question in the Research Notes for this study topic.

2. Community Information Database

The simulated Community Information Database is available in Part IV: Supporting Documents. Turn to the simulation and read the introduction. The purpose of the community information database is to keep an orderly journal of research on each of the eight articles, twelve paragraphs and forty-eight terms and measures of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on Freedom of Religion or Belief. This journal will be re-ordered and edited in Part III of the community training manual to create a reader-friendly community report on freedom of religion or belief.

• Study Exercise: Selection & Demographics: Read the instructions for the database in Part IV; Supporting Documents for selection and demographics. Selection requires some time, reflection and discussion before deciding on a community to study. Demographics is the statistical study of human populations. The question becomes what demographics are appropriate for a manual to monitor human rights and freedom of religion or belief? First is a brief statistical overview of the community. Answer the question in the topic notes for this subject.
  
• Study Exercise: The 1981 U.N. Declaration: Read the instructions for the database in Part IV: Supporting Documents for the articles, paragraphs and terms of the 1981 U.N. Declaration. Briefly review some of the questions you will be asked to answer when studying Part II: The 1981 U.N. Declaration in the training manual. For this introductory course, we use the Afghanistan example from the last topic on monitoring the articles, as an example to show how to write research notes in this stimulated database. Answer the questions in the topic notes for this subject.

Article: 1Legal Definition. The database has a place to explain each article of the 1981 U.N. Declaration, in the words of the community monitor or monitoring group. This may be revised as the monitors study each of the paragraphs and terms of an article. Write your answer, written in the previous analysis form for the Afghanistan example, in the topic notes for this subject.

Paragraph: 1.2: Coercion and Freedom to Choose. The database has a place to explain each paragraph of each article of the 1981 U.N. Declaration. This will be revised as the monitors study each of the terms and measures of the paragraph. Write your answer in the topic notes for this subject.

Term: 1.2.1: Coercion. Studying a term is the final step in the process to analyze an article by examining what it means as used in the 1981 U.N. Declaration. This includes a critical analysis of how the term is interpreted in your community. The final step is to study how the term can become part of a solution. This includes learning how the term relates to all the other terms in the 1981 U.N. Declaration paradigm. Terms are identified in the order they appear in each paragraph. A term can be either a word, a combination of words or a complete phrase. Review your answer for the Afghanistan example using the term Coercion in the last study topic. Then write it in the topic notes for this subject.

TOPIC NOTES

DATABASES: RESOURCES AND INFORMATION

Review the simulated Global Resources Database and the Community Information Database, Part IV: Supporting Documents. Then answer the following questions.

1. Global Resources Database

• Entry, Files, Fields

As an example of a data entry, identify your organization or your name, address, telephone, fax, e-mail and an abstract of what you do and your interests under one of the 12 resource fields.

Contact

Title

Organization

City/Region/Zip

Country

Tel/Fax/E-mail

Abstract

• Community Resource List

Review the resource fields and sub fields. Create a sample SEARCH OPTION for your community, as illustrated in the Global Resources Database. Identify a contact, organization and what they do, using the digit numbers for the sub-fields as illustrated in the simulated database.

Number

2. Community Information Database

• Selection &Demographics

Selection: Each monitor in the group should be asked what factors they think should go into the decision on which community to select. A community can be a rural area, a village, a city or a neighborhood within a city. Fill out the information below:

Name: Community (rural, village, city or neighborhood)

In a short paragraph, explain the reason why you choose this community to write a report on freedom of religion or belief:

Demographics: A demographic profile is helpful to give the readers of the report a snapshot statistical picture of a community. Before beginning to study the articles of the 1981 U.N. Declaration, student monitors have an outside the classroom assignment to research these numbers. Try to create a Demographics Profile for the Community you have selected above between classroom sessions and enter it below:

Community Population

Square Mileage of Area

Literacy Rate of Community

GDP of Nation/Community

Major Economic Activities

Religions or Beliefs

Type of Government

Political Parties

Ethnic Groups

• The 1981 U.N. Declaration

The simulated Community Information Database asks you to submit answers to questions on the articles, paragraphs and terms of the 1981 U.N. Declaration in preparation for writing a community report on human rights and freedom of religion or belief. Review the database located in Part IV: Supporting Documents. Write answers to the Afghanistan example for the last study below:

Article 1: Legal Definition

Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have a religion or whatever belief of his [her] choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his [her] religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

Write the answer to the question for Article 1: Legal Definition for the Afghanistan example in the last study topic to the database by writing it below:

Paragraph 1.2: Coercion and Freedom to Choose

No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair their freedom to have a religion or belief of their choice.

Write the answer to the question for Paragraph 1.2: Coercion and the Freedom to Choose for the Afghanistan example in the last study topic, to the database by writing it below.

Term 1.2.1: Coercion

Transfer your answer to the question for the Term 1.2.1. Coercion. Repeat your answer from the Study Topic to the Database. Write it in the box below.

10 T.H. Huxley, “The Agnostic Annual, 1892 back