Written by
Rebecca (Hamilton)
2003
Note: Abortion figures may be out-dated. Updates will be noted in parenthesis.
God’s Word says that the love of money is the route of all evil. While this is true, I believe that this “love” stems from fear, or “faith twisted.” The route cause, then, of discrimination is fear-based. I would like to put into perspective how fear may cause greed and selfishness. These extreme fears and money idolatry have caused the holocaust, slavery, and abortion, all of which dehumanize its victims.
Slavery in America began when white and black settlers purchased black slaves from African tribes that had prisoners from other tribes (Note: some slaves were indentured servants from Ireland). In this instance, greed allowed the black man to sell another black man to the settlers man. The settlers purchased these slaves for economic purposes: to work their plantations. They rationalized that the black man (and indentured servant) was less human than they in order to give comfort to their greedy nature. Their fear lies within a falsehood that they would not prosper from paying a free man for the same labor. It is not known how many blacks were enslaved, raped, murdered, and broken from their families, but even one is tragic.
Slavery ended with the Civil War (1861-1865) with the Emancipation Proclamation that deemed the black man as fully human.
Six million Jews were humiliated, tortured and gassed. Growing up I often thought the holocaust occurred simply because the Jews were not Christians. While I still feel this way, I also understand the underlying politics behind it. After the first World War, Germany signed a surrender treaty- The Treaty of Versailles, which left Germany bankrupt. Inflation was nearly 1,000%, which meant that an item costing $1.00, would cost $10.00 the very next year. Greed and fear caused Adolph Hitler’s Germany to blame the wealthy Jews for Germany’s bankruptcy. Hence six million Jews were killed between 1939 and 1945. The German’s rationalized their fear and greed by decrying that these non-Christians were out to get them and that they were less than fully human.
In 1973, Justice Harry Blackmun decided that a pre-born baby was less human than a newborn baby with virtually no rights at all. Abortion has claimed the lives of over 45 million Americans (58 million by 2016). That is more than the holocaust, Hiroshima, 9-11, and Pearl Harbor combined. Once again, fear and greed are to blame. The fear of being a parent, not being able to afford it, or being too greedy to put a career on temporary hold are selfish reasons to kill an unborn child. Many women choose abortion so that they can finish school or because the baby was found to have a birth defect. Some even choose to abort because they don’t like the sex of the baby. Consider that 81% of all abortions are to unwed women. 31.7% are to women 20-24 years old- perhaps college-age, career minded women. While only 1% are to those 19 and under. Health reasons and rape cases make for only 2%. The other 98% of women are filled with fear, greed, and a gross lack of knowledge that has caused the deaths of millions of tiny humans.
How does all this relate to discrimination? These precious human lives were discriminated against because of religion, social status, race, and the inability to defend themselves. The perpetrators of equality justified killing these innocent people by dehumanizing them because they were afraid that these less than humans were inhibiting their production of wealth or could be used to produce wealth for them.
Humans are not to be used for personal gain, but to be loved for their uniqueness.
For Every Great Battle, There is a Great Victory!!