NSTP Modules

Module 5-
Human Dignity and Human Rights

Topic Overview: The value of life and how it must be treated has always been a universal
question. How we treat each person we meet reflect on how we are brought up with. How we
treat others is how we view others’ essence of being a human, otherwise known as human
dignity. Duhaime (___) states that human dignity is an individual’s sense of self-respect and
selfworth, physical and psychological integrity and empowerment. It is inherent to every human
being, and is something that cannot be taken away. It is the most fundamental human rights
wherein all human rights have arised.

Objectives: At the end of the module, the student will be able to:
1. Define human dignity, and human rights;
2. Distinguish and/or differentiate the aforementioned concepts and give examples; and
3. Reflect on the aforementioned concepts and how it can be safeguarded.

Topic Outline: The following concepts will be discussed in this module:

A. Human Dignity
Read the story entitled The House of Life by Andrew Maria (2004), reflect and answer the
questions that follow.

The House of Life By: Andrew Maria (2004)

The crowd said to the Mystic, “We found a big and beautiful house called Life. Without
giving any thought to whom the House of Life might belong, we rushed inside it. Yet to our
dismay, the House of Life was empty and there was nothing in it. Life is empty, Life has no
meaning.” The Mystic went to the House of Life to see if it really was empty. He knocked on the
door before entering and someone from within opened it. He stayed inside the house for quite
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some time while the crowd waited outside. It was already evening when the Mystic went out. “Is
the House of Life empty as we told you?” the crowed questioned him. The Mystic answered the
crowd, “The House of Life is not empty. When I was inside, I saw the most beautiful rooms with
golden chairs, silver tables, and jeweled walls. Above all these, I dined and conversed with the
Master of Life himself.” “How can that be?” the crowd insisted, “when we were inside the House
of Life, it was empty, yet now you tell us that it is not.” The Mystic rebuked the crowd, “You found
the House of Life empty because you did not knock before your entered it. You rushed into life
even without knocking, as is the house belonged to you. The Master of Life, seeing that you lacked
respect for life and reverence of it, took away its beauty because you would not know how to use
it. You are proud and vain as if you are the master of your own life. For this reason, the Master
of Life gave you the House of Life to look to it but not to live in. If only you have knocked before
you entered, then you would have seen the beauty I saw and conversed with the Master of Life
himself.” “Tell us please,” the crow begged the mystic, “what does it mean to knock on the Door
of Life?” The Mystic solemnly spoke, “to knock on the door of Life is to be humble enough to
accept that the house does not belong to you but to the Master. To knock on the door of life is
to seek the Master of the House and not the treasure in the House. To knock on the Door of Life
is to wait with patience for the Master to open it from within and not to force it from the outside.
To knock on the Door of Life is to follow the statutes and commandments of the Master of Life.”
“To knock on the Door of Life is to pray to the Master of Life that you may love him since he not
only owns the house but your very selves as well.” The left the Mystic after they heard this. The
crowd returned to the House of Life and they knocked before entering. The Master of the House
of Life opened it from within. Once inside the crowd saw the beautiful things the Mystic have
seen. But most of all, they were able to dine and converse with the Master of Life himself. Life,
after all, is not empty.

1. What is the author’s purpose?

B. Human Rights
Read and understand the Universal Declaration of Human Rights based on the illustration of Zen
Pencils from the Amnesty International (2013).
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Almonte, A.M. (2004). The House of Life from MAPUA NSTP Program Module. Eds.: Agas, De Leon, &
Ricafrente. ( ). Available at https://www.mapua.edu.ph. Retrieved on June 6, 2020.

Heick, T. (2018). 19 Reading Response Questions that Work with Most Texts at Teach Thought. Available
at https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/19reading-response-questions-self-guided-response/.
Retrieved on June 6, 2020.

United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights at U.N. Org. Available at
https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights. Retrieved on June 6, 2020.

Zen Pencils. (2013). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Zen Pencils. Available at
https://www.zenpencils.com/comic/134-the-universaldeclaration-of-human-rights/ . Retrieved on June
6, 2020.