Placing value on all human life

On March 22, pro-life activists will gather in Hartford to rally against increasingly liberal abortion policies being pursued by Connecticut.

They will be criticized, primarily by the same individuals who lament the “American culture of death and oppression,” racism, gun violence and intolerance.

While violence and discrimination are certainly societal plagues, the pursuit of justice is futile without the realization that at the heart of these maladies lies a culture of dehumanization which we not only perpetuate but seek.

This culture is swept away in a tide of inability and refusal to see the sacred dignity of human life in all forms, starting with our own, extending to our neighbors, and the entire human family.

The reason for this likely being that society is effort adverse.

Seeing true human dignity always requires effort. It is far easier to look away.

Yet in diminishing others, we diminish ourselves. Any failure to acknowledge the humanity of others exposes us to the danger of losing touch with our own.

Just as racism seeks justification by “othering” people based on an immutable state, abortion does the same, and has the same power to tear a society apart. A numbness to reality is created which gradually expands the “Overton window” of acceptable actions until it’s too late to turn back without grave consequences.

So, the next time you find yourself asking “when will the violence end,” ask instead, “what value do I place on the sacred dignity of human life, starting with my own?”

Bilal Gilbertie Bridgeport