Main news for 9 March 2025

The infinite value and uniqueness of human life, of which the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah, has today become an almost obvious, though constantly violated, principle. But it is useful to remember that this was not always so. At the time when the Lord spoke these words, things were entirely different: people were bought and sold, and life was worth almost nothing. Moreover, a clan, tribe, or other "historical community" of people was considered far more important than an individual person. Even the concept of the person was absent.

The issue, however, is not even ancient and half-forgotten realities. Less than a century ago, relatively civilized countries offered up countless human sacrifices for the sake of social and political ideas. Today we are witnesses to wars in which people have to give their lives for things that are, to put it mildly, unconvincing. But God's will has not changed, and the word of the Lord that human life is more precious than everything else in this world remains relevant.

Of course, it is pleasant to realize that since the eighth century B.C., when Isaiah wrote down these words, humanity has come noticeably closer to putting them into practice. It is unpleasant, but far more useful, to realize how far we still are from doing so.