Fr. Dr. Sojan Xavier
This article is being written after reading the news item which appeared in the local daily, ‘Nagaland Post’ regarding a female sterilization camp organised at Tobu on March 10, as a measure to manage population growth. It sounded as though Nagaland is overpopulated and as such requires immediate intervention of the Government agencies to curtail the population growth. I am more surprised by the fact that it is happening in a Christian state like, Nagaland and people are so cool about it. Beyond such reports daily news items appear in the newspapers projecting more of culture of death than culture of life which is happening in our state and in the world at large. My belief system prompted me to write this article, which I am wish would, create ripples.
Violation of Sacredness and Dignity of Human Life Rampant
Today we are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the ‘culture of death’ and the ‘culture of life. There is an extraordinary increase and gravity of threats to the life of individuals and peoples, especially where life is weak and defenceless. Human life today has been a mocked, messed up and stamped upon in theory and practice. Sanctity of human life and its dignity is threatened in theory because the three thinkers who had the most influence on the twentieth century – Darwin, Marx, and Freud – all reduced man to something soulless; either an accidently – evolved clever ape, or a cog in the economic state machine, or a suppressed sex manic.
Threatened in practice because of the twentieth century’s most dramatic invention, genocide: the deliberate murder over 100 million innocent people, not just by Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. In the world and in our own society millions of human beings a year continues to be slaughtered in the womb and many more are stamped on by denying their God given dignity. In India the Medical Termination of Pregnancy reports, records a large number of abortions. India saw 6.41 lakh abortions across 12,510 institutions, approved to carry out MTP. According to the Family Welfare Statistics in India 2009, brought out by the Union health ministry, India recorded 7.25 lakh MTPs in 2005, 7.21 lakh in 2006 and 6.82 lakh induced abortions in 2007. There are about 11 million abortions performed per year in India. All in all there is the deadly destruction and distortion of human dignity.
The ‘culture of death’ not restricted to those mentioned above. It extends beyond: famine and starvation, denial of health care and development around the world and in our society, the deadly violence of armed conflict and the scandalous arms trade that spawns such conflict. Our society is witness to domestic violence, the spread of drugs, sexual activity which poses a threat to lives, and a reckless tampering with the ecological balance.
We hear and see that the people being persecuted because of their faith, immoral laws against people because of their sexual orientation, children being forced to do hard work, human trafficking and prostitution, the implementation of immoral laws that force individuals to act against their religious belief and conscience, extreme poverty caused by selfish interest, a systematic abuse of political power and corruption that keep many people in poverty, (take a ride out of your comfort zone of Dimapur and Kohima beyond o eastern regions of Nagaland), mushrooming of healthcare system exclusively for the rich and health care of the most vulnerable section of the society is denied or availed. etc.
We are witnessing lynching, persecution and intolerance on account of religious observations. People have no access to food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance, which account to the common good and the dignity of the person are denied. Think of the situation of our state if the missionaries had not brought education in our land. Peaceful existence is an essential condition for the realization of the dignity of individuals which is being marred by politically and selfishly motivated agenda. We have been challenged by the devastating and growing gun violence, by psychological and physical abuse of women and children and other forms of immoral discriminations. Racism, tribalism which distinguishes one group from another continues to dominate our society, and one group is either humiliated or degraded because of their birth into that particular group or race. Religious freedom, respect for life of the young and the vulnerable, for the sick and the elderly, or for those who cannot speak for themselves is at stake today.
India was the first country in the world to adopt and official population policy and launch official family planning programme way back in 1952. As per the survey conducted in India in 2007-8, it has been reported that a very high percentage of people have recourse to contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, which is even spread to our state too. All in all the sacredness and dignity of human life is at stake, in our society, country and the world at large.
Reasons for the Violation of
Sacredness and Dignity of Life
I see a few reaons for the culture of death namely, a misunderstanding of the person, a false idea of freedom. Apart from this there are also other causes as well.
Ignorance, Ambiguity and Compromise: The stark reality of today is that most of us either ignorant, have ambiguous and casual about sacredness and dignity of Human life. The traditional educative agencies, such as family, school and the church as whole have failed to transmit beliefs and values of the gospel and religious convictions are rarely passed on from one generation to other in a consistent and systematic way.
Misunderstanding of Human Person: The Bible teaches us, human persons are willed by God; they are imprinted with God’s image. Their dignity does not come from the work they do, but from the persons they are. However today there is a misunderstanding of the human person. There is a sense that the human person has dignity and value only if he or she is wanted, fully able to care for himself or herself, and able to be completely autonomous. Hence the unborn or the dying, since they are not autonomous and are unable to care for themselves, are considered not to have the same rights or dignity as others.
Erroneous Idea of Freedom: Today, it looks, there is a false idea of freedom and a disconnection of freedom from truth. This disconnection has led to a subjectivism and relativism which negates objective truth about what is good and what is evil. We see this embodied in the Planned Parenthood, legalised abortion, the declaration by the government agencies the concept of right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Consequently such a statement supports a notion that there is no objective truth to the “concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life” which human beings through reason are able to discover.
Loss of the Sense of the Divine: Once “God is dead” to any society, so is his image of man. If there is no sense of Divine, there is no sense of eternal life. The human person essentially lives in despair when there is no hope for immortality. “Without the Creator the creature would disappear…But when God is forgotten the creature grows unintelligible”. “Life itself becomes a mere ‘thing,’ which man claims as his exclusive property, completely subject to his control and manipulation”.
Misunderstanding of ‘Conscience’: Today, there is real confusion around the understanding of conscience which has led to misunderstanding about what is good and evil. For example, one person’s so-called conscience will say that abortion is perfectly acceptable, while another person’s conscience will say the opposite. Or one person’s so called conscience will say that being a suicide bomber is fine, while another’s will say it is not. One can recognize the lack of reason and logic in this false understanding of conscience and see how it leads to a culture of death when an objective evil is judged as a good. The so called Jihadist (ISIS) and suicide bombers are the result of the formation of erroneous conscience.
Promoters Violence to Sacredness and Dignity of Life
To my understanding the most important promoters are; new ideologies, government machinery, Medical Professionals and Establishments, Social Media.
The gifts of Modernity and Post Modernity are secularization, the scientific and technical rationality, the growth of subjectivism or relativism. As a result new ideologies of individual freedom are being perpetrated. As such the fundamental value for life seems to have little significance today. The fundamental concept about human dignity, marriage, openness to life is being questioned by such ideologies. In the context Pope Francis said, there is an ‘ideological colonization’ for which we have to be careful of those trying to destroy the family.’
Direct attacks on human life, once crimes, are today legitimized by governments sworn to protect the weak and marginalized. Regard for conscience is now being disregarded as evidenced by those laws which goes against the law of God
Certain sectors of medical profession, which by its calling is directed to the defence and care of human life, are increasingly willing to carry out these acts of violence against human life. In this way the very nature of the medical profession is distorted and contradicted, and the dignity of those who practise it is degraded.
Today media dominate lives of individuals. They have the final say in all things. While they have the potential to transmit new ideas, they pose threat to many other aspects of life. They obscure the individual’s critical sense. The media generate a fragmentary superficial culture. Truth is understood, not as that which is true but as that which appears or shown. What is passed on in and through media is not what religion stands for but what pleases the eyes and ears of audience. The explosion of media along with old abuses, new violations of human dignity and rights and of Christian values and ideals have occurred. New patterns of behaviour and concepts are emerging as a result of over-exposure to the mass media. As a result, the negative aspects of the media and entertainment industries are threatening traditional values, and in particular the sacredness of marriage and the stability of the family.” Media has degraded the human body by looking at it as an object of pleasure. “It has lost its sense about the dignity of human person and respect for human life.”
When one looks at the way young people are bombarded by the media to have the latest style in clothes, computers, I-pods, automobiles, music, etc. and then the manner in which these items are promoted in advertising through highly charged sexual images, one cannot help but observe the depth of self-centred pleasure, individualism and the objectification of the human person to which our culture has moved. One detects the hopelessness and despair that mark our culture in the violence that is so present among young people. This violence is especially evident in video games, films and, most tragically, in real life in the senseless murders that occur on our high school and college campuses. Among the alarming developments of these years has been the widespread increase of pornography and wanton violence in the media. Books and magazines, recordings, the cinema, the theatre, television, videocassettes, advertising displays and even telecommunications frequently offer a representation of violent behaviour or of permissiveness in sexual activity that reaches the point of being openly pornographic and morally offensive. A website says that in 2015, India was third in the list of countries that brought maximum traffic to the pornography site. Commercial considerations for attracting more viewers to the TV channels or readers to newspapers also cannot be ruled out for sensational visual presentations ignoring the dignity. Sometimes events that infringe human dignity are caught on cell phone by bystanders and due to their high-interest human content can go viral. Thus, the communications media which is effective instruments of unity and understanding has turned out to be vehicles of a deformed outlook on life, on the family, on religion and on morality - an outlook that does not respect the true dignity and destiny of the human person.
Bible and Sacred Scriptures, Sources for Teaching on the Sacredness and Dignity
Sacredness and dignity of person has its source in God. Book of Genesis says, “God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God, He created him, male and female He created them.” (Gen 1:27). The above text is the bedrock of teaching on the human person and on it rests the question of sacredness and dignity of human person. Because we are all made in the image and likeness of God we have a dignity which cannot be taken away from any of us.
Human life is sacred: This means that each and every person has been set apart for designation as a being of elevated status and dignity. Each human being must therefore be viewed with reverence and treated with due respect and care, with special attention to preventing any desecration or violation of a human being. This is the pristine message the book of Genesis impart to us.
Human person has a dignity and his life may not be taken arbitrarily because it is a basic gift and good and the foundation of the enjoyment of all other goods. For the great philosopher Immanuel Kant, dignity is the intrinsic worth that belongs to all human beings. It is because of the rational autonomy that all humans possess dignity.
Life is precious and it needs to be protected, preserved and promoted. Life is the fundamental good and hence recognition of life, respect for life, and response to life is inevitable. This demands reverence for life in all its forms, spheres, and stages. The statement of Jesus attests the importance given to life: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). From the above understanding come some of the most important teachings.
Human life is too Sacred to be killed: The life’s origin is in the very life of God. As such, the deliberate murder of an innocent person is gravely contrary to the dignity of human being, to the golden rule, and to the holiness of the Creator. Inviolability of the lives flows from its sacredness as the gift and creative activity of God.
Abortion is Murder: The first right of the human person is the right to life. He has other goods of which some are more precious, but this one is fundamental – the condition of all the others. Hence it must be protected above all others. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law. God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.
Therefore, the inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of civil society and of its legislation: The inalienable rights of persons must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state: they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being’s right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death.
Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, Who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.
No One Can Arbitrarily Choose Whether to Live or Die: Today there is a growing temptation to have recourse to euthanasia, that is, to take control of death and bring it about before its time, “gently” ending one’s own life or the life of others. In reality, what might seem logical and humane, when looked at more closely is seen to be senseless and inhumane. On the other hand, an intentional euthanasia, also called mercy killing, is murder. Regardless of the motives or means, euthanasia consists of putting to death those who are sick, are disabled, or are dying. It is morally unacceptable. The creator alone is the absolute master to decide on life and death. As such, euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person.
Defend the Right to Life of the Handicapped: the defense of the right to life of handicapped persons as a matter of particular urgency. Abortion and postnatal neglect in the pretext of the argument that the handicapped infant will survive only to suffer a life of pain and deprivation against God’s will. All people have a clear duty to do what lies in their power to improve living conditions for handicapped people, rather than ignoring them or attempting to eliminate them as a burden not worth dealing with.
Contraception is a Portal for ‘Culture of Death’: The root of abortion is contraception. Contraception says no to human life, treats persons as objects, separates life from love, truth from love and it is the abuse of freedom. Every act of intercourse must remain open to life and that contraception is objectively immoral. Part of God’s gift to husband and wife is this ability to cooperate with God’s creative power. Using contraceptives directly violates such God given power. Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of God. Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters.
Exploitation or Destruction of Human Embryo is against Respect for Life: Ethically responsible stem cell research has its reason, however, but any research that exploits or destroys a human embryo is violating the sacredness of life. Deliberately destroying innocent human life at any stage for research or any other purpose is morally wrong.
Cloning Dehumanizes: Human cloning is the final step down the path of depersonalized procreation. A child produced in this way has no mother or father in the ordinary sense, but only a template or model. Instead of openness to life, it involves domination over life. A technician manufactures the new embryo in a laboratory and controls his or her genetic makeup, rendering it identical to that of someone else. This act has the nature of a manufacturing process, suited to a commodity rather than a human being. It dehumanizes in the act of creation.
Respect of life calls for avoiding conflict and work for Peace: All conflicts accompanied by evil. Injustice, excessive economic or social inequalities, envy, distrust, and pride constantly threaten peace and cause wars. We must do everything we can to overcome these disorders so that we can build up peace and avoid conflicts.
No Justification for Terrorism: The terrorists in the name of religion and on the basis of the ideology of hate have been carrying out unmitigated evil acts throughout the world. However, there can be no religious or moral justification for such acts. We still need to address issues associated with poverty and injustice that are exploited by terrorists.
However, the selfish and individualistic actions of some people, ignorance of others and intolerance of few others have become a channels for disfiguring the true image of the human person. Today more than ever, the human life and its dignity are under direct attack from various quarters. One such act government aided sterilization.
No century in history spoke more about the Sacredness and Dignity of human person than the twentieth. Yet no century in history threatened them more in spite of Catholic Church proclaiming loud and clear the inherent Sacredness and the Dignity of the human life. As such we are presented with a society where crime against life is rampant, and on the other hand there is the ignorance about the teachings of the Church on Sacredness and Dignity of Human life.
Facing the Challenges of Preserving the Dignity and Sacredness of life
No quick-fix answers for the problems of our society. Some measures can be seen in the following way.
Unwind the Best Kept Secret - Sacredness and Dignity of Human life: It is our challenge to instil conviction that human life is sacred and that each person has inherent dignity that must be respected in society lies has to be instilled in the hearts of every individuals.
Take Public Positions against Culture of Death: Today in our society abortion is rampant. We observe the plight of the unjust distribution of resources, drug trafficking, the presence of radical jihadism and terrorism. The culture of death has grown to a far greater magnitude than ever imagined today. The Challenge is to take position against culture of death and demeaning of the Dignity of human person.
Form Right Conscience: Conscience is “the interior voice of a human being, within whose heart the inner law of God is inscribed “. Many people act on a conscience which is not in tune with the mind religious convictions. The proper understanding of conscience and the acknowledgement of good and evil as defined by truth and by God is essential for a culture of life is a big challenge. Forming a well-formed conscience, which enables to “to do good and avoid evil.”
Centre God in Our Life: Ultimately, the sanctity of life will not be recognized without a prior recognition of the sanctity of God. Only as we fall in awe at the throne of the Divine and recognize His holiness and majesty do we learn to value what God values in the way God values it. The Bible and many sacred scriptures make it very clear that despite our sin, God values human beings with an amazing and immeasurable love. All those who seek to honour God must seek to love human beings in the same way. If human life is to be valued, the culture must have a sense of the Creator. Thus the defense of man is bound to be affected if God is not defended. We are challenged to centre our lives on God.
Begin Pro-Life in the Homes: The port of entry for the culture of death in our society has been the abandonment of the respect for the procreative meaning of the conjugal act. It is the contraceptive way of thinking, the fear of the life-giving dimension of conjugal love, which very much sustains that culture. Therefore, it is a challenge is practice dignity of human life at home.
Promote Critical Consciousness on Media: Today men and women know and think about life is conditioned by the media. It is evident that the media has become instrument for the violation human dignity. In this context the challenge is thrown open to cultivate a critical consciousness toward media, an understanding of the media’s role and place in modern culture.
Conclusion
Murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or wilful self-destruction destroys the sacredness of life. Mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself violate the integrity of the human person. Subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children, disgraceful working conditions, insults human dignity. All these poison human society, and they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from the injury. These violations amounts to supreme dishonour to the author of life. Hence, we need to becomes champions of the promoters of cultural of life.
The writer is from
Bishop’s House, Kohima
