RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE

Nwanyanwu Chris

Life is the ability of a thing to breathe, grow, reproduce, etc before it dies or go out of existence. Human life is a person’s ability to carry out those activities that characterize a living thing. Simply put life is the ability or capability to live or exist. The question of the origin of human life is not a new one. Although there different views about the origin of human life, they all ultimately lead to the fact that human life originated from God. Even if others may not accept the name “God” as the creator of life, it still boils down to the fact that the maker/creator of human life is one who is not only superior to human life but also makes or creates himself. And this is the attribute of that person we all take as God. Hence human life belongs to God for He not only causes it to be but also sustains it.

Human life is sacred because it carries within itself the image and likeness of the creator. That is, every human being is inherently an image of God. That is why the life of a human being is sacred and must be regarded as such. Hence, human life must be respected no matter the person. This respect must be accorded every human life from its beginning to its end. That is the natural and mandatory task every human being has. This respect is in the form of protecting the human life in any stage be it in the earliest stage when it is most vulnerable or its later stage. Therefore, we human beings are called naturally to protect human life by the very fact that we possess human life which is similar to that of others and comes from the same creator.

Ordinarily as human beings and images of God, one will think that this natural task of protecting human life will guide us in our daily lives and activities in the human society. However, the reverse became the case even shortly after creation. Biblically, after the sin of the first couple, their human nature became very weak. Hence, their first son Cain killed his younger brother Abel out of envy. From then on, replicas of such event and activities more grievous than that first act of wickedness on human life began taking place in our human society. In fact considering the way human beings treat human life today, it is best characterized as a mockery not only to humanity but to God Himself who alone owns all lives.

Today, abortion is legalized in some societies and people pool their resources to fund it. In fact people seriously campaigned for it with some threats of various kind. Human beings no longer value human life. That is why a young girl will carry out an abortion and feels she is not indulging in evil. What about the doctors who carry out the operations or the parents and friends who will encourage that. The human life in form an embryo is no longer respected because it is vulnerable. If it were the case that the embryo is powerful, who will ever abort it? The most annoying part of it is that it is no longer called its real name “abortion” but “Interruption of pregnancy”. Human beings have lost the sense of the sacred inherent in human life no matter the stage.

What about human cloning? Today, cloning is used to produce human beings. That is, biological  scientists now has a technology that can produce a human being without going through the natural process of the sexual act of a couple. No matter the reasons given for such activity, it is ridicule to human life and traceably to God. What this people do is to go into their scientific laboratories and produce a human being. Hence, the human being with a human life is now a commodity that can be produced from a laboratory like any other thing. Even the stem cell research, and other biological scientific activities that reduces the human being to a thing, are also insults on human life and God the creator of it.

Another common insult to human life is wars and conflicts. The act of wars is the most common and ever present insult on human life. In the words of late Pope John Paul 11, “Every act of war and conflict directed to the indiscriminate destruction of human lives and property is a crime against God and humanity”. Today we hear of wars be it revolutions which are bloody and various acts of mayhem being carried out in different societies. On daily basis a huge number of human beings are put to death during these activities. Do we not have our own story about these activities? Have we not seen human beings burnt to death during Jos crises? Or do we not remember the event of the crushing of passengers by the luxury bus some time ago along Benin –Ore road and Abuja Okene road respectively? Do we not remember the event of some young teenage girls that were raped to death, also during the Jos crises? Or do we claim that we have not heard of the recent 2go visit where a young girl was ruthlessly and continuously raped by five devil-incarnated young boys even by the very guy she was a friend to and on whose reason the girl came? Which one are we to talk about?

This same insult to humanity is manifested in the activities of ritualists who use human beings for money-making. My brothers especially those of us from the east can remember the event of one Prophet Edinanog in Enugu State who pounded babies in a mortal as an aspect of the sacrifice for money-making. What about those persons that used their dear ones for money rituals? What about Sani Abacha’s Crocodile pond?

The litany of activities which are just mockery and lack of respect to God and humanity is long. Suicide, Euthanasia, Kidnapping, assassinations, bombings, rape etc. are all insults to God and human life. For all those who in any way carried these activities out, human life meant nothing to them. Hence they can melt on it any treatment at any time and in any place. They regard human life as just any other type of life. That is why they treat their fellow human beings as animals. That is why a human being will have the heart and mind to pound a baby full of life in a mortal as if it is a cooking poundable ingredient. Well, by that very act it has become an ingredient for making money.

What then do we say is ultimately the cause of this man’s inhumanity to fellow man? What actually moves these people to indulge in all these nefarious and inhumane acts? Who or what do we blame for all these? What is really the problem?

The root of these problems is traceable to the mindsets of human beings. That is, how do we see human beings? What do we take human life for? This is the source of these acts. For human beings believe that life is theirs and as such they can do anything with, to and for it. That is why people commit suicide and mercy killing.

However because the effects of these activities are more grievous than the acts themselves, there is this dire need to correct things.  There is a necessary call to respect human life and God.

The first step we must take to reshape the nature of things is to understand the meaning and nature of human life. Human life is sacred and inviolable from conception to its natural end. The right to life is inviolable. This involves a positive choice, a choice for life. The development of a culture of this kind embraces all the circumstances of life and ensures the promotion of human dignity in every situation. Life can never be downgraded to the level of a thing.

Human life is sacred and remains as such in every moment of existence, including the initial phase which precedes birth. All human beings from their mothers’ womb belong to God who knows them wherever they may be. The human life is a gift from God and it must be valued. In fact, our lives do not belong to us for we are only custodians of the lives of which we shall account for to God the giver and creator of life. Hence, we all must avoid all those activities that devalue human life and reduce it to a mere commodity for if the creator does not make it so, why do we just custodians of it treat them as such?

            According to late Pope John Paul 11, he said “There is no true progress, no true civil society, no true human promotion without the respect for human life, especially the life of those who have no voice of their own with which to defend themselves. The life of every child in the womb, or someone who is sick, handicapped or elderly, is a gift for all”

            In Conclusion let us respect human life. For it is by so doing that we recognize the presence /image of God in other human beings. We must all champion the cause for the protection of human life. This we shall do as we encourage all those activities that bring value to human life and discourage in any way those activities that devalue human life. This is because we all should have great respect for human life whether we like it or not. If not, one day we may wake up and find out that one of us has killed all of us. Thus, we should value human life and protect it. This we must do!