The Quality of Life slippery slope was fast-tracked on Jan. 22, 1973, when a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court “enlightened” justices “found” a “right” of abortion (euphemism for legalized murder) in the U.S. Constitution. This ruling legally denied one group of human beings their personhood and right to life and, legally justified to another group of human beings that all human beings are not persons and are not worthy of human life. How did this happen and where is it leading us?
America has been transformed over the past 50 years from a Judeo-Christian based culture into a secular, progressive, materialistic culture where the “Dignity of Life” philosophical culture (God-centered where all human beings have equal dignity in the eyes of God) has been replaced with the “Quality of Life” philosophical culture (human-centered where all human beings have a secularized, progressive, materialistic (SPM) value attached to their lives based other peoples’ opinions).
Our founding principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, in that God-centered order, have been turned on their head to accommodate a human-centered order with the pursuit of happiness being placed first above all else, liberty second and life a distant third. And in the pursuit of happiness, anything, it seems, is acceptable.
This all-out assault on the Dignity of Life culture began in earnest in the 1960s with the mantra of “if it feels good, do it.”.
This mantra is based on an extremely self-centered and self-serving view of the world by those who believe it and, there is no place for Judeo-Christian values and commandments in this mantra.
Within this “if it feels good, do it” approach to human life, people are viewed as objects to be used for one’s own self-gratification. Once this self-gratification is gone there is no further need or value for the other person.
This 1960s “if it feels good, do it” mantra serves as the basis for the SPM Quality of Life culture where human beings’ lives are measured and valued based upon SPM metrics. This Quality of Life culture is considered enlightened and intellectually advanced by those in positions of influence and power. Once you are able to measure and place a value on a person’s life, you are then able to measure and place a value on the person themselves.
The Quality of Life culture has expanded the “if it feels good, do it” treatment of human beings for personal self-gratification to include ”if it’s a burden, get rid of it” treatment of human beings for personal self-relief which is a form of self-gratification.
If someone is a burden to you, get rid of them. It’s not fair that your Quality of Life should be negatively affected by these unwanted human burdens, so the best way to deal with them is to get rid of them (unborn babies, infirm elderly, comatose persons, etc.).
And this is why abortion and euthanasia are key foundations of any Quality of Life culture as they serve as the legal vehicles to remove human burdens for both individuals and the common good.
Further, additional qualifiers for human life valuations can be added to improve the Quality of Life for both individuals and the common good.
Take for example, medical costs and return on investment. We only have a limited amount of money to spend on medical costs. According to the SPM Quality of Life approach, we need to spend the money where we will get the best societal “bang for the buck” or “return on our investment” for the common good.
And the common good will always trump the individual. Who defines and determines the common good? Those cultural elites in influence and power do. They believe they know best and, they will define and determine the common good to suit their needs, wants and agendas.
How far down this slippery slope have we come since abortion was legalized? Where will we be 5, 10, 20, 50 years from now? What other human beings will become Quality of Life human burdens to individuals and the common good in the future and what will happen to them?
Will you become a human burden to the Quality of Life to individuals and the common good and if so, what will happen to you?
Stephen Allen
Peachtree City, Ga.
