Lately, my heart has been heavy.
On Aug. 22, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, was viciously stabbed to death on a rail system in Charlotte, N.C. The attack was random, unprovoked, and absolutely senseless. Ironically, Iryna left war-torn Ukraine in 2022 because she wanted to live in peace, but instead she was tragically murdered while simply traveling home after work.
Although I haven’t watched the entire video (and I have no desire to), the portion I’ve seen displays a complete disregard for the sanctity of human life – not only from her murderer, but from others on the rail system passively watching as she was attacked and bleeding to death. No one helped, no one intervened, no one rendered aid, because no one cared – no one cared about her life.
My heart was burdened for this young woman I didn’t even know. How did we get here? How did we arrive at a place where human life is no longer sacred, no longer precious, no longer valued, and no longer protected at all costs?
Then, less than three weeks later, on Sept. 10, Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Allegedly, a 22-year-old coward murdered Kirk while he was speaking to more than 3,000 students on the campus of Utah Valley University. For nothing more than disagreeing with Kirk’s outspoken political and religious views, a young man senselessly ended an innocent life.
How could someone have such disregard for human life? How could this young man not see Kirk as someone’s son, husband, and father? How could he be so callous and uncaring?
First, we need to call both tragedies what they truly are – evil. Are mental health issues involved? Certainly. But, theologically, I believe both murders are a manifestation of evil – a tangible example of the depravity of man – a reminder of why the world needs Jesus.
Second, our nation has increasingly, and in some cases systematically, de-emphasized the sanctity, dignity and value of human life. As a result, I’m afraid we may be reaping what we’ve sown.
When movies, songs, and video games glorify murder, when our culture consumes murder as entertainment, and when we literally have millions advocating to murder the unborn, how can we expect human life to be valued properly? At least since 1973 (Roe v. Wade) our nation has been embracing a culture of death, while expecting society to value human life. It simply doesn’t work that way. We reap what we sow.
Where do we go from here? Well, thank you for asking. If we truly value life, there’s only one way to turn.
We turn back to God! We repent from sinful ideologies. We repent from normalizing the destruction of the imago Dei. We repent from all forms of intentionally destroying human life. And we begin to once again proclaim the beauty, value, sanctity, and dignity of every human life.