According to the Orthodox tradition, the preservation of man's God-given dignity and growth in it is conditioned by living in accordance with moral norms, for these norms express the primordial, and therefore true, nature of man, not darkened by sin. Therefore, there is a direct connection between human dignity and morality. Moreover, the recognition of the dignity of the person means the assertion of his moral responsibility.

2. Freedom of Choice and Freedom from Evil

2.1. Depending on the self-determination of a free person, the image of God in a person can be darkened or manifested with greater force. At the same time, natural dignity becomes more and more evident in the life of an individual person or is erased in him by sin. The result directly depends on the self-determination of the individual.

Freedom is one of the manifestations of the image of God in human nature. In the words of St. Gregory of Nyssa, "man became God-like and blessed, being honored with freedom" ("Discourse on the Departed"). On this basis, in her pastoral and spiritual practice, the Church takes care of the inner world of man and his freedom of choice.

The submission of a person's will through manipulation or violence to some external authority is seen as a violation of the order established by God.

At the same time, freedom of choice is not an absolute and ultimate value. It has been placed by God at the service of human welfare. In carrying it out, a person should not cause harm to himself and others. However, because of the power of sin inherent in fallen human nature, no human effort is sufficient to achieve the true good. By his example, the holy Apostle Paul testifies to what is characteristic of every person: "I do not what I want, but what I hate, I do. It is no longer I who do these things, but sin that dwells in me" (Romans 7:15-16). Consequently, man cannot do without the help of God and close cooperation with Him, since He alone is the source of all good.

Rejecting God and relying only on themselves, the first people fell under the power of the destructive forces of evil and death and passed this dependence on to their descendants. By abusing the freedom of choice, man has lost another freedom – the freedom to live in good, which he had in his primordial state. This freedom is restored to man by the Lord Jesus Christ: "If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). The attainment of freedom from sin is impossible without the mysterious union of man with the transfigured nature of Christ, which takes place in the Sacrament of Baptism (Rom. 6:3-6; Col. 3:10) and is strengthened through life in the Church, the Body of Christ (Col. 1:24).

The Holy Scriptures also speak of the necessity of man's own efforts to be freed from sin: "Stand therefore in the freedom which Christ has given us, and do not again be subjected to the yoke of slavery" (Gal. 5:1). The same is evidenced by the practical experience of the great host of holy men and women, who struggled in spiritual podvig and confirmed the possibility of transforming the life of each person. However, the fruits of man's spiritual efforts will be fully manifested only in the universal resurrection, when "our humiliated body" is conformed to "His glorious body" (Phil. 3:21).

2.2. The Lord Jesus Christ says: "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. whosoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:32, 34). This means that the one who walks the path of righteous life and seeks communion with God, the source of absolute truth, is truly free. On the contrary, the abuse of freedom, the choice of a false, immoral way of life, ultimately destroys the very freedom of choice, since it leads the will to enslavement to sin. Only God, being the source of freedom, can maintain it in man. Those who do not want to part with sin give up their freedom to the devil – the opponent of God, the father of evil and unfreedom. Recognizing the value of freedom of choice, the Church asserts that it inevitably disappears when the choice is made in favor of evil. Evil and freedom are incompatible.

In human history, the choice of people and societies in favor of evil has led to the loss of freedom and enormous loss of life. And today humanity can take the same path if such absolutely vicious phenomena as abortion, suicide, debauchery, perversion, the destruction of the family, the cult of rudeness and violence cease to receive a proper moral assessment and are justified on the basis of a distorted understanding of human freedom.

The weakness of the institution of human rights lies in the fact that, while defending freedom of choice, it takes less and less account of the moral dimension of life and freedom from sin. The social order should be oriented towards both freedoms, harmonizing their implementation in the public sphere. You cannot defend one freedom while forgetting about the other. Free standing in goodness and truth is impossible without freedom of choice. Likewise, free choice loses its value and meaning if it turns to evil.

3. Human rights in the Christian

worldview and in the life of society

3.1. Every person is endowed with dignity and freedom by God. However, the use of freedom for evil inevitably entails the depreciation of one's own dignity and the humiliation of the dignity of other people. Society must create mechanisms that restore the harmony of human dignity and freedom. In public life, the concept of human rights and morality can and should serve this purpose. At the same time, they are connected at least by the fact that morality, that is, the ideas of sin and virtue, always precedes the law, which arose from these ideas. That is why the erosion of morality always leads in the end to the destruction of legality.