Undoubtedly this sentiment towards human rights is shared by many. However, when it comes to the human right to freedom of religion, there is almost universal consensus amongst Christians that it must be proactively and vigorously defended.

This was recently highlighted in a speech by the Attorney General George Brandis to the University of Notre Dame (re-printed in the October 2014 edition of Eternity as “The Christian base for human rights”). In it, he argued that a number of public critics have targeted “the Christian churches, in particular, the Catholic Church and people of Jewish faith.”

He linked this associated “attack” on religious freedoms to human rights advocates who, in his view, have presumed “that human rights are a secular construct.” He describes this as an “egregious travesty” due to the fact that “human rights owed more to the Christian church than they did to the United Nations.”

While George Brandis may point out that human rights “had its origins in the gospels,” he fails to recognise that Christians and churches are also to blame for why human rights are understood as a secular article of faith. Australian Christians appear to have bought into the idea that human rights are of limited relevance to living as a disciple in a modern democratic society.

This was made abundantly clear in the 2008-09 National Human Rights Consultation. The consultation was focused on whether Australia should put into law a bill that would protect the most basic of human rights (the only western democratic country not to have done so).

Some 32,000 public submissions were received, 87 per cent of which were in favour of a human rights charter. 13 per cent, or more than 4,200 were against. Despite having overwhelming support, the then Labor federal government decided against adopting the charter out of concern that it may create “an atmosphere of uncertainty or suspicion in the community”.

Throughout the consultation, Christians were identified as one of the key opponents to the human rights charter. Of all the Christian organisations who made a submission, 65 per cent were against legislating human rights protections. Amongst individuals who identified as Christian, the number exceeded 95 per cent opposition.

Christians were seen to be speaking passionately for increased protections for religious freedom. But they also denounced or appeared indifferent to the opportunity for broader human rights protections for all peoples.

In its submission, the Australian Christian Lobby echoed a secular understanding of human rights. They believed that human rights had failed “to acknowledge God as the source of our dignity as humans [and] has stripped human rights of any solid foundation. Human rights cannot exist in a moral vacuum.”

Most of the major denominational submissions held a high degree of scepticism towards human rights. In its submission, the Anglican Diocese of Sydney was unsure if human rights had a “philosophical and metaphysical basis of being grounded in a Christian world view.” The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Australia said that human rights “do not arise from the moral law of God, but they are man-made inventions and perversions of God’s law. Such ‘rights’ ought not be protected.”

If the Christian faith is the basis for human rights, then how is it that so many Christian voices are opposed to its use in securing public justice and freedom for the oppressed in our society? It is not enough for us to claim protections for religious freedoms at the potential expense of ensuring just laws for the homeless, the refugee or the marginalised.

So, as people seeking to “do good to all people” (Gal 6:10), how do we in a modern democracy publicly advocate for justice and compassion?

A constructive answer would see us do more than petition only for the right to freedom of religion – as important as that is. We need to bring basic human rights back into the vernacular of Christian discipleship. Advocating for human rights protections in our pluralistic society is an opportunity for Christians to “do justice and righteousness” (Jer 22:3) for those who are suffering.

The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good – a collection of Christians in the US – have done just this through grounding their commitment to human rights “in the core Christian theological conviction that each and every human life is sacred.” They see human rights “as a systematic way to look out for the interests of others” and be an expression of Christian love. This empowered them to speak out against the use of torture and cruel and degrading treatment on detainees during the “war on terror”.

So while George Brandis rallies Christians to re-claim human rights as a means to protect religious freedom, Christians need to be aware that we can’t just have our cake and eat it too. We must consider whether we are also prepared to support wider human rights protections for our fellow human beings.

Jacob Sarkodee, on behalf of IsaiahOne.org. He attends St Jude’s Anglican in Parkville in Melbourne. Follow him on Twitter: @Sarkodee