Is America Better Off than India in Terms of Human Rights?

I’m really proud of my sister Joanna. Her article comparing India’s human rights situation and America’s (“First, Look in the Mirror”) was published today on the internet paper www.MercatorNet.com.* She’s spot-on.

Note how she focuses on common ground almost everyone accepts, that Indians shouldn’t allow or promote the killing of female fetuses just because they’re female. Then she moves to the contentious issue of the killing of fetuses in America and points out that the fact that American fetuses are killed in roughly equal proportions (gender-wise) doesn’t make the injustice any better. It’s dehumanization that’s at the root in both cases. And it’s a human rights violation in both cases.

I appreciate Joanna’s encouragement to be humbled by the presence of injustice in our midst (instead of pompously pointing the finger to foreign lands only, as if we are doing so much better). Following that reckoning with our own situation, what will each of us do to mount a proper response?

I wonder sometimes if I am actually living like there’s a grave injustice in my midst. Would it consume more of my mental energy? Would I make it a bigger deal with friends and acquaintances? Would I write an article and post it in some visible place like Joanna has? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this. Post them in the comments section here, or at Joanna’s article at MercatorNet.

*Just a few of the authors there that Joanna is now listed alongside: Frank Beckwith, Jennifer Roback Morse, John Finnis, and Chris Tollefson. You’re keeping good company, Joanna!