The Value of Life

The last couple of days, I have been thinking about the way we as humans place value on a life, and view tragedies.  In light of yesterday's events, it is not a popular time to approach the subject, and I am not discounting that the Boston Marathon bombing was a horrible crime, or saying that our hearts and prayers should not go out to the victims.  At the same time, I can't help to realize that the only time we seem to truly be concerned about an event like this is when it hits close to home, and we envision that it could have been ourselves or a loved one affected.  This isn't an incident in some faraway country that barely makes an impression when we see it in the news: this is the USA, and we aren't used to living with events like this, despite the multiple mass shootings of the past few years. Boston is an American city; a setting, culture, and language that is our own; we understand the politics, we know the cars being driven, stores, street layouts, religious views, foods eaten, and types of businesses that operate there.  The people of Boston look like us, and have similar interests, hobbies, careers, and worldviews.  It could have just as easily been another American city, perhaps the one in which we live, which also raises the fear level.  To drive those emotions even higher, local news stations, wanting a piece of the media frenzy, broadcast interviews with witnesses native to our own geographical location, and discuss security of the local events which attract crowds.

What we don't understand is the atmosphere of a place like, and I will use as an example, Baghdad.  I know when I hear about a bombing there, I don't have a context to envision the scene on the street; what the buildings look like, or even what food the Iraqis eat, their religious traditions, what the people are wearing, what the heck is going on with their politics, the language they are speaking, or how they were going about their day before the blast.  I have vague images from the few, brief news broadcasts that even bother to address these events since the US pullout.  Yesterday 62 people were killed in Iraq in a series of bombings and gunfire; something I personally did not see broadcasted by any media outlets. With our intense nationalism and patriotism, there is a sense that it is o.k. if it happens out there but it damn well better never happen here.  Those kind of threats should never darken our lives.  We should feel safe, and secure in large crowds, in tall buildings, on an airplane, on a bus, or riding a subway.  The people in Boston are Americans: we stand by our own and protect and cherish our citizens and our country first and foremost.

Wanting that safety is not actually a bad thing, and I am not making a case for not being prudent and doing everything possible to protect the people within the jurisdiction of the United States.  Nor am I delusional, thinking that nationalism is just an American sentiment. I doubt people in other countries feel much differently, (although it is generally accepted around the world that for all of the education and resources available, Americans are often arrogant and convinced of their cultural and moral superiority, and closed off to and ignorant of other cultures).  In addition to it being natural to love one's country, the world is a big place, and no one can be expected to absorb all of the evil and injustice that occurs every day, and feel intensely emotional about each event.  In fact, emotions happen automatically, and those emotions are bound to be stronger when what you hold near and dear is involved, similarly to the difference between hearing about a serious car accident, and finding out a family member was in that accident.

So what exactly am I getting at? I am not actually trying to make "a point," but simply processing the events of the last couple of days. I do have to say that on a personal level, as a Christian where there are not supposed to be any racial/national barriers, I am not comfortable with, and can't justify defending, or loving, or caring about the people similar to me more than those I can't identify as closely with.  That kind of thinking can result in the unofficial segregation of whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, etc.even within our own borders. It may be a natural part of human nature to find your identity within a group where the "members" can relate more to and understand and sympathize better with one another based on similar values and experiences, but I can't feel at peace when I see 149 Pakistanis killed in bombings in February (which if I knew about, I already forgot) and dismiss it and move on with my day, but watch hours of TV coverage when three American people die, and feel shock and horror.  At the risk of my words being interpreted as a minimization of the events in Boston, I want to be clear that I am not in any way downplaying what happened.  But the Good Samaritan was the example Jesus held up when he said "Love your neighbor as yourself," and the Samaritans were the Jew's enemies.  

I know I don't naturally love the world around me like that. When I am being honest and not falsely praising myself for being open-minded, I  have a hard time seeing beyond geographical, religious, racial, and cultural differences. I realize how easily I can start to classify people, or see a "Them," and either be indifferent, or feel threatened by the unfamiliarity and differences with whatever group, and cling to the comfort of not stepping outside of what I understand and know.  That mentality is something I have written against before, since I have experienced what it is like to be one of Them, and Other while struggling with mental illness, but it's much easier to point out in other people than it is to be transparent about that tendency in yourself.    

I want to remember that the child killed in Iraq by a car bomb yesterday was just as precious and irreplaceable as the eight-year-old boy killed in Boston.  I want to feel the same compassion for one of the Afghan allies who lost a limb that I feel for a returning American soldier in the same situation.  I want to be more passionate about the movement to end human trafficking, of which I am currently a small part of, than I will ever be about something like debating gun control laws, because if Americans were being pressed into forced labor and sex trafficking at the rate people in other countries are, the whole gun control debate would pale in comparison.  My home is in Heaven, not here, and people from every tribe, tongue and nation are going to be there, so I ought to get to know and appreciate them here on earth when given the opportunity.  I also know that I can't do any of that on my own, and the way to grow love is not by digging down really deeply into myself, or working a lot harder to produce it.  Generally I find the deeper I dig, the more ugly stuff comes up to the surface, not the opposite. Jesus already came and gave himself for the whole world, sending his disciples out into "all the nations."  If that's where his heart is, I am confident that he is willing and able to make mine reflect that.

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

Monday 15 April: 62 killed

Baghdad: 30 by car bombs, IEDs.
Tuz Khurmato: 7 by car bombs.
Mussayab: 4 by car bombs.
Tikrit: 4 by car bombs.
Nassiriya: 2 by car bombs.
Mosul: 2 by car bomb, gunfire.
Ramadi: 3 by car bomb, gunfire.
Khalis: 1 child by car bomb.
Shirqat: 1 by gunfire.
Falluja: 2 by car bomb.
Kirkuk: 4 by car bombs.
Tarmiya: 1 policeman by gunfire.
Buhriz: 1 by car bomb.
April casualties so far: 249 civilians killed.