Is the concept of humanity something that is still viable, given what is going on in the world today? Is it humane to hold human beings hostage? Is it humane to torture women? Is it humane to capture children and to take them from their parents? Is it humane to return captives for money or for political gain? Is it humane to brand captives? Is it humane to permanently mar or tattoo captives? Is it humane to intend to wipe out an entire civilization because yours is “different” or “better”?

Is it humane to ignore the suffering of 6 million Jews and 10 million human beings at the hands of the world’s worst monster? Is it humane to continue the tradition of stigmatizing, minimizing, torturing people who are not like you? Is it humane to rape, pillage, steal, bomb people because of their birthright? Was it humane for the world to turn its back on these atrocities, and is it humane to continue to do so? Has our definition of humanity changed since the Great War? Of course, the penultimate question, if any of the above is not humane, then what do we do with those people who act outside the bounds of humanity, outside the bounds of the human condition, and perpetrate such inhuman behavior?

Robert Stein

Hopkinton