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Who will answer the call to re-humanize our view of immigrants?

On Thursday, September 25, 2008, several religious leaders (Catholics, Evangelicals, Jewish, and Muslim) met with Colorado Governor Bill Ritter  at the western steps of the Capitol in Denver to ask for respect towards the dignity and human rights of immigrants.

 

I am absolutely in favor of such a request, that at a some moments was really a plea, but I am afraid it will fall on deaf ears.

 

There is no hope that people will re-humanize the way they treat immigrants, who are not like them, when those same people do not treat as humans other human beings who are like them.

 

We live since many decades (centuries?) ago in a techno-scientific and materialistic society, that, for that same reason, is de-humanizing, that is, people become mere things. That’s why we are no longer human beings but human “resources”, that is, something you can amass, use, exploit and discard.

 

The religious leaders who met in Denver used examples, carefully selected and applied, from the foundational texts of their respective religions to emphasize the fact that all human beings have been made by God and, therefore, we should all be treated according to such a transcendental origin.

 

As a person of faith, I do agree with that position. However, I also recognize we live in an individualistic and segmented society, where religion is thought to be a “private matter” with little or no impact on public life. For that reason, not even the appeal to sacred texts will help to re-humanize the relationship between peoples.

 

Other religious leaders quoted the Constitution of the United States to emphasize the historical and legal need to respect individual rights. Unfortunately, that’s the same constitution that is being used less and less to protect those rights, as it can be clearly seen in daily examples published by the media.

 

Why is that neither ancient religious texts (still today accepted as sacred by millions) nor the most important law of the country motivates people to respect and treat other humans as humans? The answer is easy: because we do not respect even our own humanity.

 

We are no longer human beings but just things. That’s why we have a number on a social security card, another number on a driver’s license, and yet another in each of our credit cards. Our name is no longer a reflections of all the experiences accumulated during our lives, and much less a symbol of lives of our ancestors, but just a label or a designation.

 

The level of de-humanization and reification has reach such a level that we have forgotten our own origin, destiny and transcendence. We can say, with no fear of mistake or exaggeration, that we live in an openly pornographic society, not in reference to any sexually explicit content (that’s a secondary aspect), but in reference to the degradation, exploitation, and hyper-animalization of human beings.

 

That’s why I am afraid the worthy plea by religious leaders last week in Denver will unfortunately fall on deaf ears.

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