Police Brutality Is A Symptom Of A Society That Has Forgotten The Value Of Life

This should have happened long ago, many are saying. They aren’t wrong. The truth that all human life is sacred has been slowly eroded in our society over the past several decades. And the issue extends far beyond racism. People of all ages, ethnicities, and abilities are now seen as expendable in a broken culture that has succumbed to disordered priorities. 

Replacing Meaning with Consumerism

A culture of consumerism has managed to take root and become a powerful driving force in our society. Consumer culture proclaims that people increase their worth when they increase their wealth. It effectively reduces a person to what they own, and therefore, strips people of their inherent worth and dignity. 

Consumer culture proclaims that people increase their worth when they increase their wealth.

We’re fortunate to live in a free-market country because the free market — more so than any other economic system — recognizes the value and independence of individuals. But consumerism and the free market are not synonymous. Consumerism is a social disorder that promotes the ever-increasing acquisition of goods for the sake of possession and in the name of the pursuit of happiness (albeit a false happiness). Consumerism teaches people that their value lies in how much wealth they can accumulate, rather than their intrinsic value as a person and what they contribute to the world.

The Media Reduces People to Mere Bodies Because Sex Sells

The media also feeds this idea of human worth deriving from possession rather than from simply being. Television, film, music, and all other art forms have reduced persons to mere bodies because, as the saying goes, sex sells. There has been an increase in the use of sexual imagery in advertising over the past three decades. It’s virtually inescapable. 

The media promotes the idea that your value increases in direct correlation to your sexual appeal.

And what message does it all convey? Not simply that you should buy this product, watch this television series, or listen to this artist’s new album, but that bodies are of greater value than souls and that your value increases in direct correlation to your sexual appeal. Far too many people buy into the notion that significance is earned through external means, and that it isn’t inherently possessed by the merit of existing as a created being with a soul, a personality, and a beating heart. 

Cultural Marxism Has Robbed Us of Individual Value

Our country was founded upon the idea of individual rights. These rights are based on natural law, which derives its power from belief in a law that it is outside and above human law. The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

It doesn’t matter whether or not you believe in God per se, but we have to understand that our rights as outlined are not given to us by the government or other men. They are guaranteed by the natural order of things, or by a “higher power.” Rights that are granted by a government can be taken away by that same government. 

Our rights as outlined are not given to us by the government or other men. They are guaranteed by the natural order of things.

It’s now incredibly uncommon to hear any politician or leading figure stress the importance of individual rights. Instead, we hear speech after speech about different economic classes, different races, and different genders. The rise of cultural Marxism has invaded nearly every aspect of our society, and its chief tenet is that group identity outweighs everything else. We’re no longer taught to see ourselves as an individual, but rather as a part of a larger group: immigrant, female, gay, black, etc. 

It’s a dangerous game to play because, while on the one hand it can be used to describe systemic racism, on the other it’s the same ideology that allows for the commission of genocide against a group that’s perceived to be problematic to the society, regardless of the actual guilt of any of the individual members of that group.

Activists Put Animal Lives and the Planet above Human Lives

Ironically, in the past decade, the emphasis has shifted from protecting the dignity of the lives of those with souls to the lives of those without. Animal activism and global warming campaigns have heightened the world’s awareness of the plight of the natural world. 

It's crucial that we act as good stewards of our earth, working to ensure that endangered species are protected, policies are put into place to decrease pollution, and natural disasters are kept at bay. However, when these concerns become more important than human rights, the system will crumble. This is evidenced by the increasing support for population control, as many believe that it would be better for the climate if there were fewer human beings. 

When concerns for the natural world become more important than human rights, the system will crumble. 

Politicians like Bernie Sanders have voiced support for population control measures, even though they should be aware of the horrors inflicted during China’s draconian two-child policy. Prince Harry and Swedish activist Greta Thunberg have also made the news for their “eco-anxiety,” the former announcing that he and the Duchess will only have two children due to environmental concerns. They — and those who subscribe to similar beliefs — hold that human beings are a scourge upon the earth. If we aren’t preserving our natural world so that we humans can continue to grow and thrive, then who — or what — are we preserving it for? Doesn’t this belief run entirely contrary to the idea that all life is sacred? 

Closing Thoughts

Racism and police brutality are major issues that must be confronted and corrected. Unfortunately, though, they aren’t the only issues; rather, they’re products of a culture that no longer believes that every human being — regardless of race, sex, age, and socioeconomic background — is precious and intrinsically possesses the right to life. 

Our society has become godless and obsessed with material goods and sexual pleasure. It has become far more concerned with the environment than with people. It has chosen to define people by the group to which they belong, rather than based on their individual self. It has closed its eyes to all of these lies and tricks because that’s more convenient than standing up and shouting the truth. 

So, we should be protesting. We should protest racism and police brutality. We must also, though, protest against all that claims that life isn’t invaluable, sacred, and beautiful. If the problems of our world are truly to be solved, we must fight against this evil and reclaim a culture of life.