Disassociation...Destruction

IT seems that when we label someone, objectivize them, the labels obscure their humanity. Once disassociated from their humanity, it becomes easy to allow terrible things to be done to them.

In early America, we encountered Native Americans, which we named as savages. Once we named them savages, it was easy to break treaties with them, allow the cavalry to kill men, women, and children. They were not human, they were "Savages".

During the same period, in America we had slaves of African extraction, which we named as Negroes. Once we named them Negroes, it was easier to work them hard, force them to live in squalor, to beat, harass and abuse them. They were not human, they were "Negro slaves".

In Germany, in the early 20th century, there were jews, which were called subhuman. Once they were labeled as subhuman, it was easy to harass them, take their businesses, and eventually herd them onto trains to take them to extermination camps. They were not human, they were "subhuman".

In Rawanda, tribal affiliations of Tutsi and Hutu were mutually used to disassociate each other from their own humanity. Once separated into Hutu and Tutsi, it was easy to isolate and slaughter each other. They were not human, they were either Hutu or Tutsi.

In America now, we have men captured on the battlefield that are called Illegal Combatants. Once called Illegal Combatants, it was easy to deny these men basic rights afforded to captured warriors, and even permitted waterboarding. They are not human, they are Illegal Combatants

Also in America, now, we have embryonic humans, called "a blob of tissue". Once called a blob of tissue, it is easy to deny it rights and permit the extermination my chemical or surgical means. They are not human, they are just blobs of tissue.

There are countless other examples of how we deny humanity when we should be embracing it. Jesus came as Man, and in all humanity he is both needed and found. Just as when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned, He is there. He is also there during a CIA interrogation or Dilation and Extraction abortion.

Lord of War, and other musings

I watched Lord of War this weekend, and found it provoking the interior argument it was designed for. A pillar of George Soros' drive to restrict the trade of small arms is the thought that if people don't have guns,they won't kill each other. It's a bit naive, as we saw in Rwanda and other african massacres, machetes are cheaper and don't require bullets. Shall we ban machetes as well, why not fingernail clippers too?

Still, should we be making murder easier and more efficient for belligerant parties? Killing a dozen people with a machete takes much longer than with a semi auto/automatic rifle. Sure, If we don't sell them the weapons, they'll just buy them from someone else. But it's a matter of conscience.

In our own country, gun violence is of a different character. We have a subculture, spawned by the formerly oppressed, that values the claiming of authority through the threat and use of firearms. While not a campaign of ethnic cleansing, it is still unhealthy for our society, and presents a threat to social order. Shall we ban handguns in this country? The NRA would beg to differ, but I may have the apostle Paul on my side..

1 Corinthians 8:7-n

7 But there is not knowledge in every one. For some until this present, with conscience of the idol: eat as a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 But meat doth not commend us to God. For neither, if we eat, shall we have the more; nor, if we eat not, shall we have the less. 9 But take heed lest perhaps this your liberty become a stumblingblock to the weak. 10 For if a man see him that hath knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not his conscience, being weak, be emboldened to eat those things which are sacrificed to idols?

11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ hath died? 12 Now when you sin thus against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Wherefore, if meat scandalize my brother, I will never eat flesh, lest I should scandalize my brother.

Does our liberty regarding firearms become a stumbling block for the weak? Yes, as does our liberty with entertainment, consumerism, and sex. Look at all the people stumbling around and falling flat on their faces, tripping over our freedoms. Our country is littered with spiritual landmines. What now?

Going Wild Inside

“Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day in our own world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you’d never know which were which.”

"We've got enough to bother about here and now in Narnia," said the practical Susan "Without imagining things like that."

I was reading ‘Prince Caspian’, the C.S. Lewis novel, today, and read the above section. It gave me pause, as if someone described a dream to you that you had the night before. I mulled that statement for a few minutes, and then heard this news item on the radio (NPR):

Milwaukee Mob Sets Upon Driver

From the story:

"He was driving alone at about 10:30 p.m. Monday when he honked at a group of about 15 people to move so he could continue driving. "Instead of moving, they surrounded the vehicle," police spokeswoman Anne Schwartz said. Police said he was pulled from the car, and witnesses said they saw some attackers climb on cars and jump on the victim's head. Britney King said she and her two sisters saw the attackers doing flips and cartwheels from cars onto the man."


Going wild inside, and then the wild turns outward. Prophecy? Insight into the inhuman condition? I am aghast, yet it is happening more and more.

I will continue reading 'The Chronicles of Narnia", as I have been this week, in a world that seems so much different than when I first read them 23 years ago.