The Past is Never Dead: Christian Anti-internationalism and Human Rights

Human rights are the product of a specific history and of a specific context. Over the course of their developments religious groups have had different attitudes towards them. For instance several Christian Protestant denominations have strongly criticized and opposed the developments of human rights giving birth to a distinct strand of Christian anti-internationalism. This chapter, after dealing with the anthropological understanding of human rights in the contemporary era, will challenge this notion with the understanding of Christian anti-internationalism, beginning with historically situating the anthropological understanding of human rights in the controversy surrounding the establishment of the League of Nations. Based on two case studies it will also show how those debates are relevant today within the context of the development of human rights worldwide. At the core of the controversy stands the competition between legal pluralism and international constitutionalism.