A LIFE IN GAZA:  great value BUT little dignity.

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant argued that “Everything has either a PRICE or a DIGNITY. Whatever has a price can be replaced by something else as its equivalent or of greater value; on the other hand, whatever is above all price, and therefore admits of no equivalent and is irreplaceable, has a dignity.”

For Kant, humanity and human life have dignity, not just value. They are irreplaceable, and so cannot be measured in price.

Kant was best known for his moral philosophy, but philosophy often fails to persist when applied to the real world. Human dignity may not have a price, but the war in Gaza is proving that causes often determine value, which ultimately replaces dignity.

On 7 October 2023, when Hamas crossed the southern borders of Israel and killed 1,139 people, a moral question arose that sadly escaped the lips of many believers: What is the value of a human life?  Hamas justified their deeds of terror by referring to their cause of liberation, freedom, and dignity.  The value of a Jewish life was of less value than the cause of freedom from occupation and oppression.  Value and dignity collided – and value won.

The Western world also responded through lenses of value.  For many, the life of an Israeli citizen was of higher value than the Palestinian cause – and rightly so – but once viewed through lenses of value, the same principle was then applied to the current genocide in Gaza.  For many Western believers, the cause of destroying Hamas is of higher value than the life of a Gazan child, of whom nearly 13,000 have already been killed.  Or, as one Facebook friend posted: “This is awful (the killing of children). We need more international pressure on Hamas to surrender unconditionally and stop this war.”  Once again, the value of a life was being equated to something of greater value.  The dignity of those killed was replaced and became secondary.

The consequences of the 7 October attack were catastrophic.  Even worse than the 1948 Nakba – the first catastrophe -when 15,000 Palestinians were killed and 900,000 displaced.  The Israel Defence Force responded mercilessly with daily barrages of bombs, amounting to the equivalent of three nuclear bombs, after 4 months of war.  With only 120 days separating the deadly 7 October attack and Israels first assault on Rafah, more than 100,000 Palestinians – 21,000 of them being children – were either killed or injured in some of the most inhumane and brutal war manoeuvres in modern war history.

Yes, they proclaim, they value the lives of innocent Palestinians – but not the dignity.  The value of one Hamas terrorist in the eyes of the Israeli Government and Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, currently carries the equivalent of 6 bombs being dropped on helpless citizens and the destruction of 13 homes.  For every 1 Hamas militant killed (8,000 according to the IDF), 240 people were left homeless, literally nowhere to go and nowhere to shelter in a freezing winter without food, electricity, and fuel (1,9 million in total).  The value of a Palestinian life was outweighed by the cause of retribution and self-defence.

Ceasefires seem to be fruitless simply because neither Hamas nor the Israeli Government has the ability to place dignity before value – and this could result in a conflict without end, and suffering without limits.

Sadly, many Christians joined the Israeli cause.  “Israel has the right to defend themselves!” was the common refrain.  The right to defend became a value significantly higher than that of human life – a principle that defies and nullifies the life and teachings of Christ.  Once value replaces dignity in the heart of a believer, the moral polarity in our compass of redemption will be reversed.

From God’s perspective, every human life has both inherent dignity and sentimental value. The psalmist declared that we are “remarkably and wondrously made” (Psalm 139:14). That’s inherent dignity.

In Psalm 8 the Psalmist declares: “what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?  You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour.  You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.”  God attaches dignity to every human being, regardless of cause, culture, or civilisation.    In the eyes of God, it is not about value, it’s about dignity: nothing has higher worth on earth than His creation.

How, then, shall Christians respond to the pain and suffering of those who are unable to care for themselves? In considering this question, we must remember that the value and dignity of human life are grounded in the fact that God is the giver of life. Human worth does not fluctuate with the level of perceived usefulness of a person to society or the degree of suffering they are experiencing, for human dignity is grounded in the image of God. A Gazan child, an IDF soldier, a Hamas fighter or a Jewish citizen is no less the image of God than you, me, or anyone else.

Let us therefore observe the conflict in Gaza through spiritual lenses of dignity, and not the geographical lenses of value.  For God’s sake!