Life​—Precious or Cheap?

“Since man is made in the image of God, then the taking of a man’s life is the destruction of the most precious and the most holy thing in the world.”​—The Plain Man’s Guide to Ethics, by William Barclay.

‘THE most precious thing in the world.’ Do you share that view of life? From the way people behave, it is obvious that many do not agree with that writer. Millions of lives have been callously snuffed out by violent people who pursued selfish goals without any regard for the well-being of their fellowman.​—Ecclesiastes 8:9.

Expendable and Disposable

World War I is a classic example. Time and again during that terrible conflict, “the bodies of men were sacrificed to no purpose,” says historian A.J.P. Taylor. In pursuit of prestige and glory, military leaders used soldiers as if they were worthless and totally expendable. In the battle for Verdun in France, there were over half a million casualties. “There was no prize [of any strategic value] to be gained or lost,” writes Taylor, “only men to be killed and glory to be won.”​—The First World War.

Such contempt for the value of life is still widespread. Scholar Kevin Bales points out that in recent times, a “population explosion [has] flooded the world’s labor markets with millions of poor and vulnerable people.” They face a lifelong struggle simply to survive in an oppressive commercial system in which “life becomes cheap.” Those who exploit them, says Bales, treat  them as little more than slaves​—“completely disposable tools for making money.”​—Disposable People.

“A Striving After Wind”

There are many other reasons why millions of people feel totally worthless and desperate​—that no one really cares whether they live or die. Besides war and injustice, there are the ravages of drought, famine, disease, bereavement, and countless other things that plague all mankind, making people wonder if life is worth living at all.​—Ecclesiastes 1:8, 14.

Not everyone, of course, faces a life of extreme deprivation and anguish. But even those who escape the worst of oppression have often echoed the words of King Solomon of ancient Israel, who asked: “What does a man come to have for all his hard work and for the striving of his heart with which he is working hard under the sun?” On reflection, many come to the realization that much of what they did turned out to be “vanity and a striving after wind.”​—Ecclesiastes 2:22, 26.

“Is that it?” many ask as they look back on their life. Yes, how many are there who finish their life feeling genuinely ‘satisfied with days,’ as the patriarch Abraham did? (Genesis 25:8, footnote) Most have an abiding sense of futility. Yet, life need not be futile. God considers every human life precious and wants each one of us to live a truly full, satisfying life. How will that come about? Consider what the next article has to say on this subject.