On Being Human
As humans, we are capable of a lot. We are able to display dizzying acts of love towards one another, to exemplify kindness and friendship, mercy and compassion. Humans are witness to motherly love, to parental care, to voluntary sacrifice, and in beautifying their relationships humans can foster feelings of warmth, protection and goodwill. But just as the human is capable of such goodness so too can he inflict unimaginable cruelty. When it comes to the dark side of human potential, one of the most devastating things we can do is to dehumanise others. To dehumanise someone is to decide they do not have, nor do they deserve, the basic rights and dues we give to ourselves and anybody we favour. It is to render them sub-human, unworthy, alien and as a result, completely expendable.
15 chapters
Chapters
- 11. Introduction5 min read
- 22. The Humanness That Speaks From Within Us20 min read
- 33. Who And What Do We See?13 min read
- 44. Society as a Complex Mesh14 min read
- 55. On The Fringes: A Prophetic Model Of Acceptance – Working With The Mentally Ill, Handicapped And Those Considered Social Outcasts17 min read
- 66. Transitioning Landscapes: Noticing Our ‘here’, ‘there’ And ‘elsewhere’5 min read
- 77. Structural Otherness In Poetry, Auschwitz, Hebron, Brian Haw, Rachel Corrie16 min read
- 88. The Rise Of Nazi Germany: “a Jewish Problem” - From Citizens To Othered Outcasts11 min read
- 99. The Psychology Of Dehumanisation12 min read
- 1010. The Scourge Of Dehumanising Language8 min read
- 1111. A Historical Othering: Pope Urban Ii, The Crusades And The Othered Moor29 min read
- 1212. A Closer Look – ‘and Who Is Better In Speech Than He Who Calls To Allāh?’7 min read
- 1313. The Paradigm Of Mercy As Social Outlook In Calling To Allah37 min read
- 1414. The Genocide Of Rwanda 1994 & A Paradigm Of Rescuing25 min read
- 1515. Conclusion11 min read