Resposibilities of the Heart: Human & Humane

Do you know what my favorite word is? It’s the word “humane”. According to Webster’s 1913:

“Having the feelings and inclinations creditable to man; having a disposition to treat other human beings or animals with kindness; kind; benevolent.” And: “marked or motivated by concern with the alleviation of suffering” from Princeton University.

It is the one true treasure human beings have. It marks the worth of each individual, giving them an important place in the universe. Without it, there isn’t anything special about them. The word “humane” is the word that is supossed to define what it is to be human. It is the component that makes humans, “Man” and lifts them out of the realm of “animal”. “Man” has so denied this part of himself, that he compares himself to “animals” and finds himself wanting because he is less humane than they are.

Being humane gives us mercy – a conscience; we think because of it. Without this trait, humans are no more than barely sentient, angry animals that will attack their own and that is genocide when it reaches the racial level…