Respecting the Personhood of All Humans
"I AM the Lord." This phrase is repeated over and over again in chapters 18 and 19 of Leviticus. Chapter 18 is mostly concerned with rules of sexual morality and after every group of rules comes the phrase "I AM the Lord." But in Leviticus 19:9-18 we find rules about our ordinary social relationships:
9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10 You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
11 You shall not steal; neither shall you deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
13 You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am the Lord.
15 You shall do no injustice in judgment: you shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
16 You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people; neither shall you stand against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.
17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Notice the special care for the poor, the deaf, and the blind. What do we see here? Because of the "I AM" we can have objective rules for living – family relationships, wider social relationships, and business relationships – that are not just subjective, based on our feelings and "what's in it for number one." Because God – the "I AM" – exists, we can have an objective, solid foundation for morality and truth. This is because humans are unique among all living creatures: we are created in the image of God, intended to reflect His nature and His glory. This life on planet Earth is intended to be a testing ground for our eternal life with God.
There's much talk these days about animal rights and the rights of nature, the environment. We humans are to treat these other creations with care and respect because God created mankind to be stewards over all the earth. But only human persons have the God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (in the sense of eternal bliss).
The very first God-given right is the right to life. This comes before the right to liberty because without life we have no liberty. Today's "Right to Life" movement understands this, but the "Right to Freedom of Choice" group doesn't seem to grasp this fundamental fact. Liberty or freedom is not the right to unjustly deprive other persons of their life. The "Freedom of Choice" folks in politics and the abortion industry actually limit this freedom to just one choice: killing unborn babies.
They argue that personhood doesn't exist until the baby is born or develops self-awareness, which begins at about the age of 18 months, so it's OK to kill the baby before then. A balanced article on this is What is 'personhood'? The ethics question that needs a closer look in abortion debates. Another criterion they list is the ability to think logically, but this would exclude people who are unconscious long-term (in a "persistent vegetative state") or with limited intellectual ability. So they sometimes conclude that it is OK to euthanize these adults, although many "Pro Choice" people find that is going too far down the slippery slope of un-personhood.
The Right to Life isn't limited to the beginning of life, to unborn babies (not a "fetus" or "lump of tissue" – very dehumanizing terms), but also to those approaching the end of life, as I've discussed in PCHETA, THE SENATE’S DEADLY PALLIATIVE CARE BILL, IS BACK ON THE TABLE and elsewhere: "MAiD" (Medical Assistance in Dying) and turning palliative care into hospice care and then into euthanasia.
So "Respecting the Personhood of All Humans" concerns the whole spectrum o human life, from birth to childhood, adolescence, adulthood. and old age. It means treating each person with respect, just as we would like them to treat us: "you shall love your neighbor as yourself."
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