Humanity

So, I recently got to travel to the United Kingdom to see Harry Styles in concert. One of the things that seems to have stuck with me is how he interacted with the crowd. He was Harry and the crowd were just his friends. He was humble, he was adoring, he was empathetic to all of us enduring the heat, he was human. He was not Harry Styles The Star – he was Harry Styles The Human.

As I looked out over the thousands upon thousands of people – the swath of humanity one might say – I was struck by the peaceful unification that brought us all together in this massive patchwork quilt of humanity. There was no hate, there was no derision, there was a shared love of one thing – music. You could see all walks of life, male, female, gender neutral, old, young, middle-aged, even an elderly person in a wheelchair! No one single person was better than the other. We were united by the love of the music. We were equal – we were human.

Where did this acceptance go? As I sit and write this, I am trying desperately to swallow this lump in the pit of my stomach after reading the breaking news of the landmark case Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court. I’ve been trying to understand why it is that someone else can dictate to me what I do with my body. I’ve been asking questions to the Universe trying to understand what makes one nationality, one religion, one gender, one skin color, or even one economic status better than the other. Where along the lines of humanity was it decided that a man was smarter, stronger, better than a woman? Where along the lines of humanity was it decided that a white person was superior above all other races? Just because you’re more educated than someone does not make you better, just because you have more opportunity than someone else does not make you better, just because you have less or more skin pigmentation does not make you better, does not make you worse – we are each an individual piece of the patchwork quilt of humanity. And yet, we continue to be severely abused by disillusioned members of our humanity.

I am a woman who suffered for years from infertility – some might say “that is God’s will” – not everything is God’s will. I believe in God as being an entity that plays a huge part in each of our lives. We are His chess pieces and He puts on His board wherever He deems we might do our best to make humanity better. Today, the Supreme Court checkmated humanity in their decision to take away a woman’s right. I think about that little girl who has been raped and got pregnant, I think about the young girl who was molested by her grandfather and got pregnant, I think about the young couple just starting out who made a mistake and got pregnant, I think about the welfare mom who already has 5 kids, I think about the business woman who made a mistake and got pregnant…..these women will suffer – but guess who suffers more? That unborn baby….that child that might go into the system or be adopted to an abusive family or who knows what….all because these women had their right to choose taken away from them. When did women become inferior? Is it God’s will to get pregnant? No, not really….is it God’s will that women are to be seen as less than that of men? I wonder if it were men who could get pregnant – would there be any question of a right to choose?

I am disheartened by humanity and I fear this world that is emerging as my own daughter becomes an adult. What other rights will be taken from her? Will she be told what to wear? What to do with her life? Will her right to choose her own independence slowly be stripped away? And what of my grandchildren someday? What makes one gender, one race, one religion better than the other? Is this God’s will?

May the souls of all humanity be saved.