Human

Last weekend I saw the movie Freedom Writers.  It's a true story about a high school teacher that taught a diverse group of students who hated anyone that wasn't part of their ethnic group.  In the beginning of the movie her classroom was a war zone.  By the end of the movie her classroom was a family.  She brilliantly used the holocaust to teach her students how ignorance about a group of people can lead to the destruction of people.  

This movie is thought provoking, to say the least.  I started thinking about the ignorance of humanity at different times in history.  There was a time when some believed that black people were not human.  This belief made slavery possible and acceptable.  There was a time when some believed that Jewish people were not human.  This belief led to the holocaust.  Today there are people who believe that an unborn baby is not human.  This belief makes abortion possible and acceptable.  When will the ignorance end?

I looked the word "human" up in the thesaurus.  The synonyms listed are: being, biped, body, character, child, creature, individual, life, mortal, personage, soul, wight.  The antonyms listed are: abstract, immortal, inanimate, nonentity, plant.  When I look at this picture of a 10 week old baby growing in his mother's womb I'm astonished at the ignorance that might believe this picture shows an abstract, immortal, inanimate, nonentity or plant.

I looked the word "human" up in the dictionary.  The meanings listed are: adj. 1. of, pertaining to , or characteristic of mankind.  2. consisting of people or men; the human race.  3. of or pertaining to the social aspect or character of man: human affairs.  4. sympathetic; humane: human understanding. 5. --n. a human being.  What part of a human pregnancy would not apply here?

I wonder ... is it ignorance or denial?!