De-Humanizing Ourselves
One of the first principles covered in the Principle Approach is God's Principle of Individuality. This basically states that each of us is a unique creation of God, designed for His purpose. It is probably the easiest and clearest of the principles and foundational to the others. It is also the one most likely to be challenged by the unbeliever. It is challenged daily in the schools through the teaching of evolution. It is assaulted through John Dewey's notions of socialization which hold that there is no differentiation between the individual and the society.

According to this pervasive belief:
  1. We are not created but a product of random chance.
  2. We are not unique individuals, but a "member of a unity."
  3. We have no purpose but to reproduce and maximize our evolutionary advantage.
We have, without need of subversive tyrannies, de-humanized ourselves. At every turn, we find more reference to the human "animal." We are highly evolved apes, with no inherent value to our existence beyond what we subjectively apply to human life. If you are elderly, infirm or unborn, your value is negotiable. Your life expendable. You are not even human enough to be killed. Instead, you are "terminated."

What is the purpose of de-humanization? Traditionally, it has been in preparation for war. No matter how passionately we feel about the cause or how threatened we feel, killing is not pleasant. It leaves nightmares with the bravest of soldiers in the moralest of wars. So we de-humanize the enemy. Compare them to rats, to rmachines, to anything that is less-than-human.
One of the principal means through which the perpetrator will attempt to clear his conscience is by clothing his victim in a mantle of evil, by portraying the victim as an object that must be destroyed. Religion Online
But now it isn't even the enemy that is being de-humanized. It is ourselves. Our own children. Our own parents. Our own desires. As animals, we can be sorted, herded and directed by the state. We can strengthen our gene pool by determining who can and cannot reproduce. We can justify murder in the name of economic benefit. And we can call for the eradication of religion. Anything for the perceived material benefit of "society." To be well-fitted for that society, we must let go of the idea that we are individuals, created by God with a purpose. Viewing people as unique creations of God disrupts the system.

For an excellent essay on the de-humanization of ourselves, check out demolition65's entry on De-Humanization of Life.

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