Something Less Than Human

I recently viewed the film “Out of the Ashes”, a movie based on the memoirs of Hungarian gynecologist and Holocaust survivor Gisella Perl. I was impressed again as I was in my visit to the Holocaust Museum, with how an entire group of people, millions of them, were successfully labelled as something less than human. Oh, there are monsters among us; up to 4% of the population could be comprised of sociopathic personalities, but the vast majority of us feel guilt. For genocide to be permitted by the general population, the population needs to be cowed with terror, or the victims need to be dehumanized to the point that guilt over their annihilation is blunted. The Nazis did both.

In a recent article in The Journal of Medical Ethics two ethicists argue that it should be perfectly permissible to perform what they refer to as “after birth abortions”, the destruction of a new-born human baby. Their argument is that cognitively there is little difference between a late-term fetus and a new-born baby. Neither, they say, are capable of attributing to their existence some basic value, and as such being deprived of that existence does not represent a loss to them. The fact that they are a matter of months, possibly weeks, away from such awareness only makes them “potential persons”, and the interests of “actual persons” override the potential rights of those who are something less than actual human persons.

Both the Nazis and the ethicists have promoted themselves to the position of determining what is and what is not human personhood. The bigotry of the Nazis is easy to see in hindsight, while the outlandish argument of the ethicists is seen more as “philosophy gone wild”. What is most frightening is that both positions emanate not from ignorance, but from the scholars of their day. Hitler borrowed heavily from the eugenicists in America for his policies of racial purity, and these ethicists are affiliated with two Australian Universities. We think of bigotry as the heritage of the uneducated and backward, but it is at its most insidious when it is bolstered by “accepted science” and given the air of acceptability by the embrace of the scholarly.

Just as the jews were labelled “parasites”, and now “devils”, the Rwandan Tutsis “cockroaches”, Christians labelled as “dogs”, and blacks or native americans as “savages”; we now use equally offensive labels to demean the humanity of those we seek to silence or destroy in the political forum. There is a wide range of political leanings in this nation; there always has been. Criticism from one side to another throughout our history has often been less than civil. A history of bigotry however, does not excuse the presence of bigotry.

At the risk of being accused of hypocrisy, perhaps the most prevalent form of dehumanizing a political opponent is to declare them to be the equivalent of Hitler or a Nazi. To be clear, I don’t think anyone of significance, or any national group has approached the level of malevolence that would justify them being labelled as Nazis, though most have been so called by their adversaries. Under the cover of the anonymity of the internet all manner of dehumanizing vitriol is leveled at all political persuasions. I’m not talking about the occasional bad joke where someone’s perceived shortcomings are exaggerated in an attempt at barbed humor. Though this can be a vehicle for bigotry, the exaggeration is generally understood, and the most hideous evil is seldom accompanied with humor. One has only to look at the comments on almost any opinion piece where people think they are “preaching to the choir”, to see the deadly seriousness of some people’s hatred for those who disagree with them. Pro-choice advocates become sadistic murderers, Pro-lifers are labeled as nazis perversely consumed with interfering with a woman’s reproductive freedom. We paint with the broadest of brushes; the wealthy are fat-cats stealing the bread of the poor, so evil that we should feel no moral repugnance at the imperative to “eat the rich”; the lower strata we label as lazy degenerates, burdens to society, who need above all to take a shower and get a job. We refer to governors and representatives as “mentally retarded” revealing at once our bigotry toward the disabled and those who, while holding opposing positions, are at least intelligent enough to have been elected to high offices. The hatred goes as far as people being subjected to death threats or wishes they had been aborted, even children should they make the mistake of precociously venturing into the political forum. Boycotts are organized to punish sponsors of radio or TV personalities with whom we disagree with the express intention of silencing them; they are so wrong and “dangerous” that they cannot be allowed behind a microphone. Tea-Party people are racists, OWS people are drug addicts and rapists. Republicans want you to die quickly. Democrats want to destroy the country. The intention is to turn your opponent into something monstrous, easier to hate, and more acceptably destroyed using suspect tactics. The ends justify the means if you are saving the world from zombies or demons. In our own circle of friends and family we see things more clearly. We all know people of differing political leanings, and while we find them frustrating we seldom see them as diabolical; they are fully human in our eyes, confused perhaps, wrongheaded even, but not monsters deserving destruction.

IMHO: Science has often been used to bolster bigotry, but perhaps we should turn to true science to help us define humanity. Let us assume that any being that shares the common DNA structure on a cellular level is in fact a human person, and fully our brother or sister. Let us not assume a majority of our fellow humans to be monsters when only a very small percentage actually are, and they are the ones who deserve the full fury of our rage. There is right and wrong even in political positions, but respectful words are more persuasive than pitchforks, and dignity is deserved by all well-meaning persons even when they are in error. Engage your opponents, argue your points, encourage those who disagree to speak freely, truth can always go toe to toe with a lie! Demand silence from no one, but be not silent yourself! Many may be at odds with you, and they may all be wrong… but they are not something less than human!