Diocesan Resources
Why You Matter: A Reflection on Human Dignity by Rev. John Bartunek (2009)
Why You Matter: A Reflection on Human Dignity by Rev. John Bartunek, LC, STL
Long ago, a Frenchman incurred the displeasure of the emperor Napoleon. He was thrown into a dungeon, forsaken by his friends, and forgotten by everyone in the outside world. In loneliness and near despair he took a stone and scratched on the wall of his cell, "Nobody cares."
So many forces in today's world want us to reach the same conclusion, to think that we don't really matter, at least not very much. But these forces are craftier than Napoleon. Instead of locking us in a literal dungeon, they scorn us indirectly. They tell us, for example, that our looks, bank account, career, clothes, resume, talents, and self-esteem are most important. In short, they put the spotlight on all kinds of different things about us, but they ignore us. And when this message tirelessly bombards us, from every form of media, it has its effect. By overvaluing those good things, we end up undervaluing the most important thing, our very self that resides beneath all the stuff and all the to-do list items. And when that happens, we also start to undervalue other persons, other selves.
This is the root of today's cultural campaign against human dignity. Something people can have, like health, is given more importance than what people are - so we are willing to dispose of people, starting with human embryos, in order to use their stem cells to search for cures for diseases. And when health begins to wane, assisted suicide is offered as a "medical treatment" to terminate life (in several countries and U.S. states).