Life vs. Death: The Defining Choice of Societies

Photo by Sierra St John on Unsplash

originally published at Southern Sentinal

Throughout history, societies can be categorized into two distinct cultures: those that cherish life and those that embrace death. A society that promotes a "Culture of Death" seeks to eliminate individuals who disagree with the prevailing ideology, those considered too costly or inconvenient to care for, and anyone who disrupts the status quo. These cultures have been responsible for some of the darkest atrocities humanity has ever witnessed.

Here are some of the largest genocides in history, all driven by this destructive culture of death:

• Mao Zedong’s Regime (1949-1976): Estimated death toll: 40-70 million people. Mao’s Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution led to widespread famine, forced labor, and executions, culminating in one of the deadliest genocides in history.

• Stalin’s Communist Regime (1929-1953): Estimated death toll: 23-50 million people. Stalin’s purges, forced labor camps, and devastating famine policies caused a massive loss of life, marking one of the most tragic periods of the 20th century.

• Khmer Rouge Regime (1975-1979): Estimated death toll: 1.7-2 million people. Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia enforced brutal policies of forced labor, executions, and mass killings, wiping out nearly 25% of the nation’s population.

• Rwandan Genocide (1994): Estimated death toll: 800,000 people. In just 100 days, the Hutu majority slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in one of the most horrific genocides of modern times.

• Armenian Genocide (1915-1923): Estimated death toll: 1.5 million people. The Ottoman Empire’s systematic extermination of Armenians during World War I is often recognized as one of the first modern genocides.

• The Holocaust (1939-1945): Estimated death toll: 6 million Jews, along with millions of others deemed undesirable by the Nazi regime, including Romani people, homosexuals, disabled individuals, and political dissidents.

When a society chooses to silence or eliminate those who challenge its goals, the result is what history recognizes as genocide. These are the horrific consequences of a culture that devalues life.

Today, we must ask ourselves: Are we a culture of life or of death?

According to the CDC and the Guttmacher Institute, between 2013 and 2021, over 6 million unborn babies were aborted in the United States. This staggering number puts us equal to the death toll of Hitler’s Holocaust, far exceeding the Armenian Genocide and the 2 million people killed by Pol Pot in Cambodia.

The fight for a Culture of Life is at the heart of the Republican mission. We believe that every life has inherent value, and as God breathed life into mankind, creating each of us in His image, it is our sacred duty to protect that life.

The Mississippi Republican Party’s platform clearly expresses this belief:

"We believe that life begins at conception and that all life, regardless of age, is a precious gift from God and must be protected."

Our Declaration of Independence makes it clear that the protection of life is a fundamental role of government. As Republicans, we are committed to ensuring that our nation embraces a culture that values life in all its forms, protecting the most vulnerable among us.

The question we face is not just political—it is a moral one. Will we stand as a culture of life or succumb to a culture of death?