We’re All Privileged: Prove Me Wrong
Each of us reading this today is privileged. “What? Me? No way! How dare you assume you know what my life is like!” Now, that may be the inner-dialogue for some of you but for the others of you, you may be saying, “Please go on. I am intrigued.” Well, the verdict is in and it’s true; each of us is privileged in some way, shape, or form. On a fundamental level, our privilege begins on the basis that we are alive. It is a gift that we are here. Speaking now for myself, and maybe some of you as well, the privilege continues. I am a first generation, Mexican-American with a university degree who has a fulfilling job, enough food on the table, a gym membership, a paid off car, health insurance, authentic friendships, and a family worth fighting for. I look to the future with glowing eyes full of hope and a radiant smile filled with the joy of a life of adventure. (I had braces too, so we can add that to the list). But, for some hundreds of millions of others, these privileges are not the building blocks of their lives.
According to the National Right to Life Committee, more than 60 million children have been aborted since legalization of abortion in 1973; the International Labour Organization estimates that there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally; Forbes journalists state, more than 553 thousand people are currently homeless; HIV.gov reports, 21.7 million people living with HIV (59%) have access to antiretroviral therapy leaving approximately 15.2 million others who go untreated; the Washington Examiner cited, 711 thousand migrants attempting to cross illegally into the U.S. this year will suffer on average 1.4 adverse effects including death, rape, human trafficking, kidnapping, and assault/robbery to name a few.
What makes us pro-life is that we view the human person as worthy of love and respect at every stage of their life.
Why does this matter to me? Because the pro-life movement runs much deeper than people want to believe or admit. During my time at Franciscan University, we had a class discussion about voting for the future president of the United States. Most of my classmates said that they would be voting for Trump because he was pro-life. I shivered to the core and in a flush of passion I raised my hand to rebuttal. What makes us pro-life is that we view the human person as worthy of love and respect at every stage of their life. Certainly, we could spend years learning the ins and outs of law, medicine, policy, or social justice but ultimately it comes down to the fact that we were all created to be image bearers of God’s love on this earth. We have been fashioned in our mother’s womb with a purpose and a specific calling to help others understand the truth of their identity. I am pro-life because I lived for too long without understanding my worth and the worth of others. I am pro-life because we all deserve to be seen and known by our truest identity – sons and daughters of God.
