When we talk about dehumanization, we're talking about treating someone as less than human and thus undeserving of humane treatment. Slide along to the other side of the scale, and we find ourselves at hero worship. When we hero worship, we treat someone as greater than human and thus deserving of special treatment. Just as dehumanization has consequences--all things do in life-- so does hero worship.
Just check the news for proof of this.
Exhibit A: Oscar Pistorius, the Olympian
On Valentine's Day of 2013, Pistorius shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, four times, fatally wounding her. The two had been sleeping together when Steenkamp got up to go to the bathroom. Pistorius claimed he heard noises and thought Steenkamp was an intruder. He shot through the door, killing her.
According to Pistorius, Steenkamp's death was an accident. Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide (similar to manslaughter) and sentenced to five years in jail. He only served a year then was released on house arrest.
Last December, however, the Supreme Court of Appeals found him guilty not of culpable homicide but murder. In South Africa, the minimum jail sentence for murder is 15 years. Pistorius was sentenced to a mere five.
Even the judge called the Olympian "a fallen hero." The judge, the upholder of justice, tried Pistorius not as a human but a super human. A hero. He was worshiped as a hero. He, a star athlete and public figure, apparently was not only above humanness but also above the law.
There are other examples.
Michael Jackson and charges of sexual abuse on his Neverland ranch.
Mike Tyson, who raped a young woman and only served three years of a ten year sentence.
It is a very dangerous thing, to treat humans not as humans. Both ends of the spectrum--dehumanization and hero worship--harbor injustice. We must make our way back to the center, back to a place where we treat people for what they honestly are: human.
