The Human vs. The Collective

I believe that the great eternal, fundamental, and mortal struggle for human beings is over the sovereignty of the individual human soul and the essential imperative to protect this from the soul-destroying collective.

There is a reason why our greatest fear was embodied in the science fiction depiction of “The Borg”.  This represents the triumph of the collective over the individual, and the ultimate annihilation of the individual human soul.  As human society advances toward this ominous fate, we see everything that defines our humanity suffer.

Things that make us intrinsically human and distinguishes us from an ambiguous and indistinguishable collective begin to disintegrate and die.  Male and Female.  The recognition of, and the deference awarded to, the sapient and its preference to the bestial.  The spark of the divine and a sensitivity to Its energy.  The sanctity of a single human life.

The hive, recognizing these very real threats to their collective, descends upon the one who might imbue a tendency toward any such nature, and, overwhelming him, they dismember his body, destroying the soul, and either integrate the remains to serve their purpose, or devour them.

This battle between the individual and the collective is decided in no greater way than how each one of us views the significance of the prenatal human being.  Regardless of how our institutions establish some kind of a collective will to protect these innocents, this should not deter us from acknowledging, first to ourselves, and then to those within our social circles, that the very line between being and nothingness is inexorably drawn through the human womb.  That is not hyperbole.

The question of “when does life begin” is of no value.  The collective does not value any single human life, no matter its status or position.  Therefore, one will gain no understanding or conciliation in considering this.  If one understands that a life is human, there is absolutely no rational or logical reason to consider it otherwise, and to value it accordingly.

If we can not acknowledge this, if we fail to embrace this with our minds and bring ourselves to this understanding, then we must recognize that nothing else that we might hold with any amount of reverence matters.  The Nativity doesn’t matter, the Cross doesn’t matter, and our liturgy is nothing more than an empty façade.