Each month I edit an online newsletter through the auspices of the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism. The December issue is now out. Here’s my introductory letter:
The Human Exceptionalist - December 2011
The morality of the 21st century will depend on how we respond to this simple but profound question: Does every human life have equal moral value simply and merely because it is human? Answer yes, and we have a chance of achieving universal human rights. Answer no, and it means we are merely another animal in the forest.
- Wesley J. Smith
Dear Exceptional Human:
Most of the stories recounted in this second edition of The Human Exceptionalist, may, at first glance, seem to encompass different issues, environmentalism, archeology, bioethics, etc. But they share a common denominator. At their cores, each ultimately forces us to focus on the unique importance—or purported moral irrelevance—of human life.
Take the intensifying advocacy for the creation of a new international crime—akin to genocide or ethnic cleansing—called “ecocide.” As envisioned by its proponents: Ecocide is the extensive destruction, damage to or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished.
Please note that “peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants” is a very broad term, intended to include everything from grass, fish, and insects to mice, snakes, and people. In this sense, ecocide treats the impact of development of flora and fauna in the same way that the crime of genocide treats the mass slaughter of categories of people. In this sense, “ecocide” is anti-human in that it diminishes our moral importance to that of all other forms of life on the planet.
Moreover, impeding the “peaceful enjoyment” of flora and fauna would not require actual pollution, but could mean a declining supply of forage or a loss of foliage caused by almost any use of the land, perhaps even simple urban growth. Thus, ecocide seeks not primarily to punish environmental catastrophes, but transform large scale human activities that create wealth from the bounties of the earth into felonious conduct.
But not all the news of the last month undercuts the sanctity of human life. On a positive note, a major breakthrough in treating heart disease using adult stem cells offers the prospect of a robust regenerative medical sector without reducing nascent human life into the status of a mere natural resource—as would be the case with relying on embryonic sources or human cloning. We also note that scientists have discovered a 100,000 year-old paint factory, illustrating that the unique creative capacity of humans has long been uniquely inherent to our species.
I hope you find this edition of The Human Exceptionalist informative and edifying. If you find the information we provide is worth knowing, would you please share it with your friends and suggest that they subscribe? Oh, and if you think the defense of human dignity is worthy of your financial support, just hit the donation link and help us continue advocating for a society centered in the inherent value of human life. Thank you for your attention and support.
Wesley J. Smith, Co-Director of the Center on Human Exceptionalism
If you would like to read it, hit this link. And to subscribe, hit the subscribe link in the letter and it will come each month free in your email. It’s worth the price!
