What is the value of a human being?

Correct treatment could have avoided 68 suicides in Norway. This is one of the headlines of today's web edition of the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. It is the assistant director of the organization that deals with complaints from patients in Norway who claims that 68 suicides during the last ten years could have been avoided. That means that an average of about 7 persons every year could have stayed alive if they had been given correct treatment.

 

Last year, 15 343 abortions were registered in Norway. This number represents 25.5 percent of those 60 220 babies that were born last year.

 

During the first half of this year, 81 persons lost their lives in the Norwegian traffic.

 

On 22^nd July last year, 77 persons were killed in the terror attacks in Norway.

 

What is the value of a human being? What is it that causes some killed persons' names to be written on memorial plates? Which victims qualify for memorial services where the royal family and the government are present? And what have they failed to do, those who do not get such honor?

 

During the ten weeks court case against Breivik who killed 77 persons in the terror attacks last summer, several representatives of the victims, and also others, said that it was too much of a focus on Breivik and too little focus on the victims. Their observations and feelings might be right. But few victims have been focused more than these 77 and all those who were injured.

 

Victims seem to be focused (much more) when those who are responsible for people's death, are not liked by the society. Doctors, nurses and other health workers represent groups of professional people who are liked and looked up to. The purpose of their occupations is to save lives. When sometimes they make mistakes, like we all sometimes do within our different professions, we behave in a more or less accepting way. Even if some of the victims are embraced by the media, they do not qualify for a memorial plate.

 

A fatal traffic accident normally also avoids the major headlines and the victim does not qualify for a memorial plate here either. Most of us are car drivers and therefore also car drivers belong to a group of liked people. The kind of traffic accidents that reach the headlines and can qualify the victims for memorial plates is when there is an accident where many people die. For example an accident by bus  -  and of course by boat, train and plane. The focus on the victims is not high because we do not like bus drivers, boat captains, train drivers or pilots, but because many people die at the same time.

 

But even if many people are victims, they do not qualify for the major headlines in every situation. In average, 42 unborn human beings were killed every day last year. That is more than half of the number of human beings who were killed by the terrorist last summer. If we say that abortions take place within a time range of 8 hours every working day, it means that last year about 7-8 unborn babies were killed every single hour. Neither of these people who could grow up to help out Norway's demand for labor, qualify for memorial services with the presence of the government. Why? Well, all people love mothers  -  and doctors are also liked. Besides, these unborn human beings are by many people not considered to be human beings while they are unborn babies.

 

Breivik got attention, and so did the victims of his actions. What did these victims do that other victims did not do? It seems that the only different thing they "did" was to be killed by a person whom the society does not like. Not so much because of him as a person, but because of his political views and opinions, and what these opinions have done to him as a person.

 

The more we seem to dislike a person, the more we seem to value the human beings whom the disliked person kills. But what if the conclusion from the court in August will be that Breivik was in such a psychiatric state of mind that he cannot take responsibility for what he did last year, do we still dislike him? Or will he also then become a victim? And if he, due to some kind of mental illness, becomes a victim, who is the one being responsible? If it is someone we like, why then will Breivik still remain one of the most famous Norwegians?

 

What is the value of a human being? A mother who gives birth to her baby loves her baby. That love does not end. Whatever a human being will do bad in life, there will always be at least one other human being who will have a too strong love bond to this person. A mother's love does never end. Is it what we do that defines our value? Some people seem to be given a higher value than others. Some people get their names on memorial plates, others do not. Some people receive awards, others do not. In a few weeks from now, athletes will win Olympic gold medals in London and enter the world of fame. Most athletes will not win.

 

Some people could not care less who wins Olympic medals. All people have areas of interest and other areas of little or no interest. Does a person who does well in an area that many people are interested in, have a higher value than a person who does well in an area that few people are interested in? Of course not! And there is also no single human being who, alone or together with others, has never done anything wrong. Even the most popular and awarded athlete or football star has done wrong.

 

So the value of a human being does not depend on what we do or say. Does it depend on who we are? Do men have a higher or lower value than women? Can culture or complexion say anything about our value? What about religion?

 

From a human standpoint there can be no doubt: none of us has a higher or lower value than others. God says that He created man and woman, and that each individual is made as His handicraft and was thought of long before we were in our mother's womb. Handmade sculptures can take many different forms and designs. But even if they look different and the material can be different, the creator made each of the sculptures with the same value and sincerity.

 

What is the value of a human being? That he or she is created by God, as God's handicraft and with a God given plan for our lives. For so God loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. But isn't this religion, you may ask? No, this is not about religion. This is about God and Jesus Christ, and God's desire for us to establish a relation with Him by believing in Jesus Christ. It is a gift, free of cost for us. It was completely paid by Jesus on the cross. It is given to every single human being, hence the fact that we have the same value. No one is left out of receiving this gift; either you are award winning and successful or you are a loser and a failure. Whatever profession we have. Whatever good or bad we have done or said. Do not let anyone push your value down!

 

Whether we decide to receive this give or not, that is up to each and every one of us.