That All Men Are Created Equal

            Ever more popular are the famous words from the Constitution of the United States of America, "that all men are created equal."  These are words penned before their time, before the depth of meaning came.  They are words that have not yet reached their full meaning and the value that they were inspired by God to carry.  

            They could have been written much differently with the mind set of the 18^th century.  They could have been based on race and national origin and said "all Anglos or Europeans are created equal."  Gender could have been the prominent basis so that the words declared "all males are created equal."  They could have been based on property saying "all land owners are created equal."  Age could have been the basis so that "all adults are created equal."  Instead a generic term was used, a term that reflects the entirety of humanity, all mankind.

            But again, these words have not reached their full potential.  The races have struggled to gain their proper recognition.  Women struggle against barriers of injustice.  Now even as we try to bring equity to these groups, we oppress another with greater force.  As we strive to be fair to one we blind our eyes to another, the most innocent of all.  We deprive this group not of just the right to vote, the right to own property, or the right to be free, but of life itself.  We deprive it of life based on age and dependence.  We deny their souls as Whites denied the souls of Blacks and Native Americans.  This group is annihilated for convenience because it is too young and is dependent on another.  They are being oppressed and forsaken in a land that claims "that all men are created equal."  May the light of truth come for these words that we may not deprive the unborn of their place in this world.  Let a full and just understanding come.

Kathy Hooper
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