WASHINGTON, D.C., March 26, 2020—Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, wrote an op-ed published by The New York Times today that addresses the COVID-19 crisis, the nation’s economy and the value of upholding the dignity of every human life.
“A pandemic is no time to turn our eyes away from the sanctity of human life,” wrote Moore.
Below are excerpts from his piece, “God Doesn’t Want Us to Sacrifice the Old,”:
“We already are hearing talk about weighing the value of human life against the health of the nation’s economy and the strength of the stock market. It’s true that a depression would cause untold suffering for people around the world, hitting the poor the hardest. Still, each human life is more significant than a trillion-dollar gross national product. Stocks and bonds are important, yes, but human beings are created in the image of God.
“We must also reject suggestions that it makes sense to prioritize the care of those who are young and healthy over those who are elderly or have disabilities. Such considerations turn human lives into checkmarks on a page rather than the sacred mystery they are. When we entertain these ideas, something of our very humanity is lost. . . .
“A life in a nursing home is a life worth living. A life in a hospital quarantine ward is a life worth living. The lives of our grandparents, the lives of the disabled, the lives of the terminally ill, these are all lives worth living. . . .
“And along the way we must guard our consciences. We cannot pass by on the side of the road when the elderly, the disabled, the poor, and the vulnerable are in peril before our eyes. We want to hear the sound of cash registers again, but we cannot afford to hear them over the cries of those made in the image of God.”
Moore’s full op-ed can be found online.
