by Karim Jessa

Created on: August 15, 2011   Last Updated: August 19, 2011

It's necessary to be clear about the difference between equality and equal rights. The two terms are used interchangeably but they don't mean the same thing.

To begin with, humans are not equal to each other. They've never been equal nor will they ever be equal. If humans were equal to each other, they'd be robots or clones. There would be no such thing as individuality.

It may seem obvious when put in that way; it may seem too obvious to deserve mention. Yet the fact is that the confusion leads to misunderstanding, and then it sounds insulting to be told that you're not equal.

This really shouldn't bother you at all. What greater blessing can there be than to know that you are unique? You may not be the best in the world; you may not be the worst in the world; and you definitely aren't the same as anybody else in the world.

But you do have the same rights as anybody else. This is where the treasured equality comes in. Equality before the law; equality of opportunity. When people speak of being equal, they either forget to add "before the law" or they take it as being tacit.

However, in the excitement over-possessing or fighting for these rights, the use of the word "equal" or "equality" without the added "before the law," gradually comes to be taken as a fact in itself. People begin to speak and think in terms of "being" equal.

And the most confusion comes in when people talk of being equal before God. Without getting into an argument about God, which, for your information, I do not believe in, let us just look at this question of equality in the eyes of God.

If every believer was to be truly honest with themselves, they would admit that the whole problem, if you wish to think of it as a problem, of lack of equality has been caused by God. For ask yourself, who created humans with different abilities, different colors, physical and mental handicaps?

Most of all, throughout human history, there have always been those who seem to be favored by fortune; and there have been those who were considered more blessed than others.

If there was God, then he or she or it would be the real culprit of every kind of inequality that exists in the world. If you leave God out of it, then you're forced to admit that Nature has made humans unequal.

Yet, humans possess enough intelligence to realize that while being unequal, and while celebrating our differences, we can have equality of rights. And that is what we've always fought for, and continue to do so.

So, just to get everything into perspective, and to clear up any confusion, we emphasize our equality before the law, our right to equal opportunity, our equal freedom, our right to equal respect. But we shall never wish to be equal as humans. Life would just be too boring to have seven billion equal clones walking the face of the earth.

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