Life. We give it. We take it. Who decides which life is more valuable? Is an innocent new born child’s life more important than the homeless man you pass on the street every day on your way to work? Is a convicted criminal’s life less important than our own, just because we were never caught? Who are we to price life? Whether it be a choice between the death penalty rather than life in prison or the shooting of a gorilla who may or may not have harmed a child, life is precious in all forms.

You may choose to explain life itself with science or religion, but no matter what you believe in, no one on Earth is responsible for the original existence of life. So, how self righteous do we have to be to proclaim which lives matter and how much?

Is human life truly more important than the life of any other species? All living things are important to the balance of our ecosystem. So many people were upset over the loss of Harambe, the gorilla, and others were complaining because it was receiving more acknowledgement than murder victims or aborted babies.

Raising awareness has been turned into a hierarchy of importance. The never ending debate over who and what is right or wrong has taken precedence over the heart of the matter. A life was lost.

I started writing this article with the intention of keeping my own personal views out, or at least in the background. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t include that every time I watch the news and a murderer’s name and face is plastered all over the television screen while the victim is known only as that,a victim, my heart aches.

Someone out there lost a child, sibling, parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, cousin, spouse, or best friend and all anyone can do is debate about why the killer did it. Everyone will know the name of the killer. Criminals become some sort of twisted version of a celebrity. No one talks about the memory of the person whose life they ended.

Every time I see someone defend abortion with, “It’s just a bunch of cells,” I want to scream. Hey buddy, you’re basically just a bunch of cells too if you want to get technical. Enough said.

I don’t have control over these situations. None of us do. Maybe that gorilla would have harmed that child or maybe not. Maybe the woman felt that abortion was her only option even though it wasn’t. Maybe the gunman did actually have an untreated psychotic disorder, or maybe that was just his lawyers excuse. I wasn’t there, so how could I know what the best course of action would be? These weren’t my choices to make, so how could I say for certain what I would do? I don’t know all of the details, so how can I state an opinion without all of the facts?

The only thing that I know for certain is that whenever a life is cut short, that is what I will acknowledge. I will not engage in common speculation over the past. News flash, we can’t change it. There are better ways to spend time. Imagine how much better the world would be if we all gave up our time arguing on social media and volunteered to better the environment or help people in need .

Ask yourself: How am I serving life? Is my impact on those around me positive or negative? Am I making a change? Are my words condescending or uplifting?