“If you minimize, or tend to disbelieve that human dignity is under attack world-wide, you haven’t even read the morning newspapers.”
Our Quote of the Week highlights a significant issue of our times: that our respect for human dignity is in decline. Our challenge, therefore, is to reverse this decline and to protect human dignity at all costs.
This week’s quote is from Sargent Shriver’s 1973 Address to the National Conference of Catholic Charities. Shriver mentions at the beginning of the address that that he’s there to speak on the topic of dignity, and he says:
“Five thousand years after the Greeks spoke of the inherent dignity of human beings -- two thousand years after Christ died on the cross, -- and almost 200 years after this nation was founded on the concept of individual human dignity and justice for all, human beings are being killed, deprived of liberty, permitted to starve, falsely imprisoned and degraded as never before in history.”
Shriver lists a number of realities, from the extreme to the everyday, that support his statement: the millions of people living in poverty around the world; the prevalence of violence in our everyday lives; the mistreatment of prisoners; and people’s lack of trust in politicians.
What can begin to restore human dignity? Shriver states:
“Only one thing can make Americans feel good again...and that is the reworking, the reconstruction if needs be, of an ethical foundation for American democracy.”
It’s important to note that Shriver here is stressing the role of those in public office in rebuilding the dignity of people. However, he also points out that everyone must make ethical choices when dealing with others, so as to create a culture of dignity:
“Presidents and the people must be encouraged to comprehend and if possible to foresee the ethical consequences of their choices.”
Today, as we consider the media headlines to which Sargent Shriver refers in the quote, we can certainly see that politics continue to play a role in the erosion of dignity. But exacerbating the situation is not merely the differences in our politics, but the ways in which we deal with those differences. Political polarization, or the entrenched conflicts that can arise from our political differences, is a major cause of the erosion of dignity. Polarization leads to disrespect, the unwillingness to work towards solutions, dehumanization, and violence.
We’ve been heartened to see the work that The Dignity Index has done to investigate how we can reduce the contempt in our culture and foster dignity. If, like us, you are concerned about how we strengthen human dignity, we invite you to explore their work.
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