All too often, “dignity, like many of the more precious but intangible phenomena of human life, is taken for granted”. According to Gabriel Marcel, “Only when it is threatened, demeaned or wrenched forcibly from us do we understand how inseparable our dignity is from our humanity. To understand what happens to human dignity, we must understand human dignity not only abstractly as a concept and an idea, but also as an experience, a lived reality of human life.”
History offers a bloody account during which multitudes of humans have experienced the degradation of the human spirit that follows from the systematic deprivation of human dignity. One need only mention slavery, the Holocaust, genocide and ethnic cleansings such as Rwanda. But also the present killings inflicted on innocent Christians by the ISIS militants.
Technology may also exalt or imperil human dignity, depending on what we take human dignity to be, especially if science is allowed to become detached from its moral compass at the service of mankind towards the dominion of mankind.
There is an urgent need for ongoing promotion and education on human dignity, considering the atrocities taking place in different parts of the world today.
The intrinsic human dignity is expressive of the inherent worth present in all humans from fertilisation to natural death, simply by virtue of their being human. Intrinsic dignity cannot be gained or lost, expanded or diminished. It does not depend on age, development, sentience or intelligence; neither does it depend on health or material success. It is independent of human opinions about a person’s worth.
Professor Edmund Pellegrino describes intrinsic human dignity as the inherent grounding for the moral entitlements of every human to respect for one’s person, one’s rights and one’s equal treatment under the law in a just political order.
Extrinsic or imputed dignity, on the other hand, is the assessment of the worth or status humans assign to each other or to themselves, and this is where we tend to fall short.
Intrinsic human dignity does not depend on age, development, sentience or intelligence; neither does it depend on health or material success
All of us make imputed judgments of value or worth consciously and unconsciously. These judgements affect the way we respond to others and to our own inner selves. We should be able to make a clear distinction between acceptance and rejection of beliefs, principles or ideologies on the one hand, and how we should treat each other on the other.
Clearly, a human dignity approach is a relevant humanitarian way of building bridges towards an inclusive society where all of us can peacefully coexist in an atmosphere of fraternal respect and peace.
Thankfully there are people who have made it a mission to promote and defend human dignity throughout the ages.
Crusading for human dignity from a very young age, Anna Halpine started the World Youth Alliance, (www.wya.net) at the United Nations in 1999. Today the World Youth Alliance (WYA) has a million members of a hundred nationalities. Halpine will be visiting Malta to promote two innovative initiatives, namely the Human Dignity Curriculum (HDC) and FEMM health.
The HDC offers an alternative approach to the sexual education guidelines developed by the World Health Organisation.
The battle to protect and defend human life and dignity is fought in a very real way in the arena of reproductive health and sex education. Her work will be introduced by Lord Nicholas Windsor, an active promoter of human dignity initiatives.
During these events, sponsored by APS Bank on behalf of the World Youth Alliance, they will be also explaining the holistic approach to women’s healthcare as proposed by FEMM.
This approach encourages women to have a greater understanding of their hormonal health so that they can make better-informed choices regarding family planning without necessarily having recourse to artificial contraception.
The itinerary includes a lecture and meeting with students at the University of Malta on Monday, April 27, between 1pm and 3pm, at the KSU Common Room followed by a lecture for teachers and educators between 6pm and 7.30pm at the Catholic Institute, Floriana on the same day.
A lecture for health care professionals and students, entitled “Human Dignity: a medical professional’s perspective” will be held on Tuesday at 7.30pm at Phoenicia Hotel Green Lounge, Floriana.
Miriam Sciberras has a Masters in bioethics and is active in pro-life work.