Keep Our Humanity, Whatever the Cost
In a world that seems determined to strip us of our humanity, how can we keep it?
I've asked myself that, recently, thinking about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's words about the ways the Russian invasion has changed him, has changed his people. He candidly shared the struggle he says he faces in keeping his humanity.
"War is a choice," he said. "And it's a difficult choice to make because hatred towards your enemies overwhelms you daily. Hatred towards enemies who took away the life one had before ... But you have to suppress your hatred. To know that it's the enemy, and yet fight by the rules -- as in staying human. And that is a hard choice."
These days, even for people who aren't at war, inhumanity seems to be the norm, not the departure from it.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent busloads and planes full of migrants to Chicago in the freezing winter, men and women and children who had no gloves or coats or even, in some cases, long pants. I know this because the town I live in put a desperate call out for donations of warm clothing.
These people were in some cases standing at bus stops or train stations shivering, for hours, because Texas did not notify anyone in the city before their arrival.
We can talk all we want about the border crisis, but we should never forget that these are human beings we're discussing. They are all living lives, the same as you and I are. In our fervor to be right, we shouldn't push our compassion to the side.
Meanwhile, a presidential candidate calls the people he doesn't like "vermin" and says that migrants are "poisoning the blood" of the U.S.
We grant humanity to embryos in Petri dishes but not to our neighbors.
We call people we don't like fascists. We compare political opponents to Nazis -- beastly evil without humanity. Dehumanization excuses any tactics, any insults, any violence in its opposition.
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