People and nations that have been enlightened by scriptures and the teachings of the Savior of mankind, have a different perspective in regards to human dignity, than do many without that orientation. Even though, as a believer myself, my ire can still be raised when I see cruelty or ‘mean.’ Generally compassion and tenderness is what I feel for other fellow travelers on this wonderful planet earth. There are those who have been raised in ignorance and among brutal language and brutal parenting. They are sometimes ridiculed by society’s elite, the following is an example of such a put down even though it has some humor to it; “The head waiter of an elegant restaurant recoiled in disgust as a man in boots, torn jeans and a leather jacket approached him. “Hey man,” he said, “Where’s the toilet?” “Go down the hall and turn left,” replied the headwaiter. “When you see the sign marked ’Gentlemen,’ pay no attention to it and go right in.” Children raised in a crude environment are those who generally extend that same crude behavior forward into future generations. There are even societies that promote cruel behavior in order to control the populous. I was reading a story about North Korea and how a cow was killed for food. All cows belong to the state (authority), because they plow the fields and help feed the masses. This story is in reference to a hungry peasant who killed a cow for his family to eat because they were starving. His crime was stealing from the State. When found out, soldiers of the state strapped him to a post and used him for target practice. A trial, where one might be judged by his peers and where some humanity may seep through is unheard of in North Korea. The populous is taught in early childhood to hate, especially Americans, for example a grade school math textbook problem reads; “If you kill one American bastard and your comrade kills two, how many dead American Bastards do you have?” A society that worships only their cruel leader has little chance to find happiness and to ever be enlightened by the good in the world.
A young lady who escaped from North Korea and whose family suffered beyond our understanding said that “Sometimes we (family) tell ourselves stories in order to live. Sometimes the only way we could survive our own memories is to shape them into a story that makes sense out of events in our lives that seem inexplicable. She said that, “It is possible to lose part of your humanity in order to survive. But I also know that the spark of human dignity is never completely extinguished and that given the oxygen of freedom and the power of love, it can grow again.”
It seems so foreign to those of us born in a free country, who breathe free and are able to express ourselves without fear of authoritative sanctions for simple infractions. Born where there is little chance of the need to kill a cow ourselves, to find something to eat. A country with a volunteer army where young people join to protect and to serve the populace, not to protect and to serve the dictator. Not a government that needs an army to protect them from the people but rather protect them from other hostile nations.
When we read of inhuman behavior, we wonder how one person could be cruel to another, whether it be another human or an animal. Has the light of Christ given all persons born to this earth been totally extinguished in a country like that? Does that government see their citizens only as objects that can be used to satisfy the lusts and desires of the state or to be used as target practice etc..
How long will a people tolerate a dictator’s total and cruel power before they rebel? They will as long as there is even a flicker of hope that things might change or as long as the power is so overwhelming that there is total and suffocating control.
Human dignity, as well as human cruelty, have existed side by side since the beginning and it will probably continue as traits and characteristics of the human being as long as the world stands. But those who have been enlightened know that brotherly love and kindness will be the victor in the end and that those without compassion will be judged accordingly.