Go Beyond

Every beneficent and malevolent act committed in the world today is driven by worldview considerations. Whether human rights atrocities or acts of extreme love, every act can be traced back to what an individual believes.

The substance of beliefs is ultimately transmitted by words. That is why words matter. There is power in words.

A children’s rhyme boasts, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” The truth of the matter is that words can hurt us and others — and sometimes hurt in a big way!

The Holocaust is not something that happened overnight. This horrible chapter in our human history can be traced back to words that shaped the thinking of a people. In Mein Kampf, Adolph Hitler referred to the Jews as “parasites upon the nations.” His words paved the way for the final solution.

Last month, a biology professor at the University of California San Diego compared unborn babies to parasites. As part of a lecture, this professor drew “parallels between fetuses and cancers.” A student in his class took a photo of one of the professor’s slides and expressed his shock on social media.

The class title was “biology of disease.” Thus to refer to a pre-born baby as a parasite is essentially to liken pregnancy to a disease for which abortion is the remedy.

The professor described a fetus, or unborn baby, as a “legitimate parasite” that grows rapidly and manipulates the immunity of the mother — just like cancer. Whether wittingly or unwittingly, this professor used words that unquestionably contribute to the dehumanization of a baby in the womb.

Dehumanizing language is indeed dangerous because it suggests that certain human beings (in and out of the womb) are less valuable than others. And, as in the case of the Holocaust, this kind of language can lead to the destruction of life.

Nobody would argue against killing a parasite any more than they would protest killing a roach. Comparing unborn babies to parasites, however, can condition people to think of the preborn in terms of being something less than human. While a parasite does not belong to the human species, a human fetus is a human life — regardless of the stage of development.

Derogatory and dehumanizing language is nothing new to those who advocate for abortion. In her book Pivot of Civilization, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, used derogatory language to refer to minorities and certain groups of human beings. She referred to those she loathed as “human weeds, reckless breeders” and “human beings who never should have been born.”

We live in dangerous times. When we regard a child in the womb as a parasite, then it will not be long before life outside of the womb is regarded in similar terms — especially children that survive abortion, the aged, and those born with special challenges.

How utterly arrogant and irresponsible for anyone to use language that dehumanizes, devalues, and disregards the sanctity of human life. If we are not careful, this kind of rhetoric will ultimately endanger us all.