The Sanctity of Life:
From Wikipedia:
In religion and ethics, the inviolability or sanctity of life is a principle of implied protection regarding aspects of sentient life that are said to be holy, sacred, or otherwise of such value that they are not to be violated as a violation.
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As a Muslim who's striving to be more observant to God's guidance, by doing more good in the world and not doing harm as much as I can, and by standing up for the truth even if it's against my own preferences.
The general objective of the Islamic teachings /law can be summarized in the following:
"The attainment of good, welfare, advantage, benefits and warding off evil, injury, loss of the creatures".
The second most important principle of these general objectives is "The preservation of human life/soul" حفظ النفس.
I had to say all of these things to explain why I have been feeling very disturbed and distressed, maybe a little bit shocked and disappointed too, as I continue to see how some people are reacting and acting towards the current pandemic particularly in the United States.
I said the following as a response to an online thread where some Americans in my local community were debating the protests against the current lockdown, a pretty soft lockdown and the least we can do to protect our lives and those of other people in my opinion for the scale of danger that we are all under.
"It's mind-blowing to those of us who are not from here to watch people wanting to open up the country with the highest number of positive and death cases in the entire world and to also see other people defending their right to protest and the Constitution even if they disagree with them, nobody else in the world does that, who gives a damn about political correctness when it means innocent people losing their lives! It's so freaking scary to be stuck here."
I still had to listen to some lecture me on democracy, freedom of speech, and the American constitution so I said:
"Good luck with American exceptionalism. Good luck trying to get morons with rifles to express their opinions without causing harm because they have the right to do so.
It's not surprising that there aren't any similar idiotic reactions from other peoples in other democratic and constitutional nations under lockdown all over the entire world, only here. That definitely says a whole lot about the dominant American mindset."
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Seeing people say things like: Some people will just die, people die every day, we can't stay in our safe homes with tons of food and entertainment forever and we need to get our hair and nails done, while thousands are losing their lives and many are struggling with their health makes me ask many questions about the logic that guides morality for some people.
What is more important? Is it life itself? Or money, entertainment, and the freedom to express hatred and carlessness?
What is the definition of freedom in this context?
Where does it stop? What is the meaning of freedom if it entails causing harm to yourself and others?
What good are laws for if they discriminate in punishment between people based on class, race, country of origin, or any other differences?
As someone who lived through political turmoil and instability over a decade, and witnessed people fight and die for true freedoms and to have access to basic human rights, I find it very hypocritical and silly that those who recognize the danger would still be encouraging the behavior of irresponsible selfish people in the name of "Democracy and Freedom of Speech", instead of calling it out.
For me, and I'm sure for so many others, there is nothing more important than the life of an innocent human being.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said:
“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
More than 50 years later, this is still a very true reality.
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