Brian Yates

Alderman-at-Large, Ward 5
City of Newton, MA

Human Differences

There is a lot of talk today that we should “respect human differences.”  I disagree. We should respect human beings. Human differences are much less important than the people who have them.  By over-emphasizing them, we open the door to the kind of people who want to use human differences as a reason to kill, enslave, or otherwise exploit other human beings. The rhetoric of those justifying concentration camps, genocide, slavery, and discrimination always denies the humanity of their targets and makes them out to be inhuman or subhuman (insects, animals, diseases, brutes, etc.)

I suggest that focusing on human differences opens the door to these abominations,

I suggest the following alternatives:

  1. Respect Human Beings

    All people have the same value and deserve respect just for their humanity, regardless of their skin color, religion, language, place of birth, cultural practices, state of health, stage of development, etc.   The Golden Rule “Treat others as you would want to be treated” should apply to all the people of Earth.
     
  1. Understand Human Similarities

    Respect for all human beings gives the clarity of thinking to recognize that human beings are remarkably alike in their feelings for their families and their communities, their aspirations for a decent life, and in the whole spectrum of human attributes. People looking for similarities of others will always find some despite the differences of circumstance, location, history, language, culture, and skin color.
     
  1. Appreciate Human Differences

    With the foundation of respect for human beings and understanding of human similarities, we can then acknowledge the differences of history, culture, appearance, and ability that make people interesting. Human differences in their proper place foster respect for human beings and knowledge of human similarities.

Relevant Links:

  1. National Holocaust Museum.   www.ushmm.org
    Charter Member
     

  2. New England Holocaust Memorial   www.nehm.org
    Their program linking the  Holocaust and the Great Hunger (the Irish Famine) and urging people to visit both of these downtown Boston memorials is an excellent example of how people from different ethnic groups can come to realize the similarities of the their experiences.
     

  3. Simon Weisenthal Center    www.wiesenthal.com
    I was drawn to the Center by the movie about Raoul Wallenberg.
     

  4. Yad Vashem    www.yadvashem.org
    This Israeli museum to the victims of the Holocaust acknowledges the existence of the “Righteous Among the Nations,” Gentiles who risked their lives to protect Jews from the Nazi murders.  The example of people like Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg shows that some people can do good for other human beings even in the midst of the most horrendous evil.
     

  5. Catholic League for Civil Rights    www.catholicleague.org
    While defending their own, the League also points out that the enemies of Catholics and Jews have used the horrors of the Holocaust to tear people about who should be allies. “The Myth of Hitler’s Pope” by Rabbi David Dankin documents the most egregious case. Communists devised and spread lies about Pope Pius. The Jews of the time praised him for all he did to save the Jews of Europe.

This page last updated on Wednesday September 02, 2009

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