The Value of Humanity

When hearing about atrocities such as genocides and other crimes against humanity, one tends to question what humanity is worth. Does humanity really have a “value”? Maintaining humanity is important because it gives people hope and faith. Religion is based largely upon kindness and humanity, and many people are faithful to a religion as a source of hope. Humanity is threatened when atrocities, such as genocide, happen. Millions are killed, and this is a horrible crime that often happens as a result of war. Also, the consequences of losing humanity are substantial. A loss of humanity could result in an angry population, or in a situation similar to Syria, where extremist groups rule parts of the country. First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung relates to these overarching questions in many ways. The narrator, Loung Ung, is the victim of a genocide in Cambodia. She has to hide from the Khmer Rouge, a Communist group targeting many groups. Among them are the ethnic Chinese, the ethnic Vietnamese, and capitalists. Overall, humanity holds a lot of value and the consequences of losing it are severe.

Maintaining humanity is important for a many reasons. Most of these have to do with keeping faith in a religion, and not losing hope. A common expression when someone sees something bad happening is “I’ve lost faith in humanity.” Although this may be said jokingly, it is in fact a dangerous thing if it really happens. The first large reason that humanity must be maintained is that most people believe in a divine being, and in a religion. This means that they often turn to religion for help, believing that the aforementioned divine being can make things right if they pray to it and worship it. Overall, religion is largely dependent on the ...

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... could include an angry population, anarchy, and rebel extremist groups forming. In conclusion, humanity holds so much value, in fact, it may be the one most important thing governing our everyday lives.

Works Cited

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Stanton, Greg. Genocide Watch. Rep. Genocide Watch, 2012. Web. 26 May 2014.

Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2000. Print.