There is a question I have been encountering frequently in recent days: Is it possible for a person to stand with the civilians in Palestine whose right to life is being stripped away, while simultaneously supporting the struggle of women and the people in Iran against their regime? When this question is asked of me, my answer is clear: Yes. Because what I defend is not regimes or religions; it is human rights. The fact that this answer is considered "complicated" today reveals exactly where the real problem lies. Human rights have ceased to be a universal value and have instead turned into a position passed through political filters - much like religion being pulled away from being an internal journey and instead used to construct systems of mass control. The struggle for survival is now perceived as support for a specific religion or a regime. Conscience has stopped being a moral reflex arising from within the individual and has become a selective mechanism taught by state...