When People Aren't People

I've been on the road most of the past three weeks. One of the things I do when I travel is listen to talk radio. Yes, I'm a talk radio junkie. I don't agree with everything I hear, but I'm a fan of people like Dr. Laura, Rush Limbaugh (really rubs me the wrong way), Lars Larson, and most anything from the BBC.

While listening to talk radio on my recent trips I realized that somewhere along the line our "tolerant" super-society has broken down what it means to be human. On Rush's show earlier today, a caller said about the terrorists against whom George Bush is fighting, "Why should we treat them like people? They're not people; they're terrorists. They don't deserve to be treated well." Really, caller? They aren't people?

Lars Larson held a discussion two weeks ago in which he asked the listeners whether or not they would allow doctors to alter their DNA if they could absolutely be sure to prevent a baby being born with something like Down's, Asberger's, or Lou Gherig's. The common consensus was, "Sure. After all, isn't it more cruel not to use our technology to prevent people from denegrating into those diseases that make us less than human? (I'm not exaggerating that word choice.)

When did people stop being people simply because they have evil in their hearts or because of disease? I thought being human meant having body, mind, will, emotions, and a soul. I thought being human had less to do with a particular character type than with who we "are." Clearly I'm off base here. It's scary that we live in a world in which we can call our enemies "unhuman." That certainly sets the stage for self-granted authoritarian cruelty in the name of humanity. It's scary that we can manipulate our genes so that we only have perfect babies. The last time someone tried to create a superior race of people (Milosovic), the US bombarded the Balkans. Yet, it's okay for us because we're not mean like Hitler, Polpot, or Milosovic. We're not committing genocide, so it's okay if we create a superior race.

Friends, especially Christians, this is no good. Being a person has nothing to do with meeting the North American standard of human living. God have mercy.