Do We Really Believe That All Life is Precious?
There’s been a number of state executions in the last few weeks. All took place in states where pro-life is central to a majority of voters.
I’ve met very few people who believe all life is precious. Maybe no one come to think of it.
It seems that everyone makes at least one exception when it comes to the “thou shalt not kill” commandment.
War has been justified for centuries, for example.
The millions of people who have lost their lives over boundary and natural resource disputes should be enough to convince us that people really don’t believe that all life is precious.
It’s extremely challenging for humans to truly practice what they preach.
Most of us suffer from lack of self awareness and empathy not from having too much of either one. I was trying to think which form of murder I excuse and why.
Self defense is on my short list. I’m definitely not a turn-the-other-cheek gal.
I’m pro choice, largely because I think we live in a world where parenting is substandard and the selfish gene is dominant. I’ve seen too many children suffer at the the hands of their own parents only to remain unprotected by their communities. That kind of torture haunts me. Then they grow up and are sent to die in a brutal war over boundaries and natural resources.
That makes no sense to me at all.
Some people are comfortable with denying an abortion but actually root for capital punishment. Lethal injection, hanging, electric chairs, firing squads, burning at the stake, and a host of horrific ways to kill a criminal have been practiced down through the ages. Even though we run the risk of killing the wrong person, many approve of proceeding.
Off with their heads.
Even when we insisted that their dysfunctional birth family’s carry them full term, we turn around and kill them later if somehow nature or nurture failed to produce an upstanding, trustworthy citizen.
We loved the fetus but not the adult.
Hmmmm …some companies have sent a slew of people to an early grave by dumping toxic waste into drinking water. Since corporations are people, too, and we all know how hateful people can be, murdering those living in the village shouldn’t be excused.
Well, they shouldn’t be excused if all life is precious.
Lots of people in America carry guns. Even those who oppose abortion carry guns. Why? They might be picking up a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk on the way home from work and have to kill someone.
Is all life precious? Or only some life.
If refugees are starving and we refuse to share, does that mean that our lives are actually more precious than their lives?
There’s those who believe in a god and take the “thou shalt not kill” commandment seriously and then there’s humanists like myself who believe that it’s our job to create a better world for the children we produce. Yet, when it comes to snuffing out precious lives, do either of us really believe that all life is precious?
It’s complicated. Isn’t it?
Maybe life itself isn’t precious. Maybe all living creatures are destined to suffer and die in one way or another. Certainly in the natural world life isn’t remotely precious. There’s some life form killing and eating another life form every second of every day. Mother Nature when left to her own devices is a cruel and heartless bitch.
Humans are deeply flawed, too. If we’ll eat our own young, and some do, then we’re pretty fucked up.
So, does this bleak picture mean that we should just give up? Well, I can’t. Why is that? Largely because I brought two children into the world and one of them brought my granddaughter into the world. I feel responsible for all of them. And, while I can’t make the world a nice place all by myself, I can’t give up hope that things will improve either. I simply can’t!
I’m compelled to dream of a world where all life really is precious.
I want all babies to be loved and to grow up not be sent to die on the battlefield. I want all parents to be sane and capable of caring for their little ones. I want all humans to go to bed with a full belly and a roof over their heads. I want all corporations to care for our water and soil rather than kill people for profit. I want the criminal on death row to have had access to mental health providers. I want the refugees to be welcomed and the natural resources to be shared and the boundaries to be nonexistent.
Does it sound like I’m describing heaven on earth? Maybe I am. The religious have created a utopia in an after life. I’m a humanist. I want my utopia now, I guess.
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
