Oscar Romero Quotes

Every human life is a reflection of divinity, and... every act of injustice mars and defaces the image of God in man.

It's not acceptable to torture people for being themselves.

And every human being is precious.

Instead, in the absence of respect for human rights, science and its offspring technology have been used in this century as brutal instruments for oppression.

Torture arises in societies afflicted with a culture of dehumanization.

The very word torture is a disgrace to the human race.

Torture of a person anywhere in the world causes humanity everywhere in the world to suffer.

The truth about torture is that when government agents are given a green light to treat other human beings without the most basic respect for their dignity, they will inevitably engage in abuse. Torture transgresses the most basic of moral principles: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The only way to live with the practice, from the interrogator’s point of view, is to deny the humanity of those being subjected to it.

Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God's creation, made in his own image, destined to live for ever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.

Don't tell me it doesn't work. Torture works. Okay, folks?

The human being is to be respected and defended, not protected like a bird or a river.

We are not to look to what men in themselves deserve but to attend to the image of God which exists in all and to which we owe all honor and love.

To treat anyone as if they were less than human, less than a brother or a sister, no matter what they have done, is to contravene the very laws of our humanity.

Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God.

Trample not on the ruins of a man.

All men bear the image of God. They have value not because they are redeemed, but because they are God's creation in God's image.

All human beings bear God's image and must be respected for what each person is. Therefore, no external description of one's being, whether based on race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, can properly be used as the basis for either rejection or discrimination.

We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own.

We're all people", he said simply. "It doesn't matter if you're two, thirty-two, or ninety-two. Everyone wants to be treated with respect. Everyone wants to feel like they matter in this world.

Our search for such [moral] principles can start with . . . the unconditional imperative to acknowledge every person as a person. If we ask for the contents given by this absolute, we find, first, something negative-the command not to treat a person as a thing. This seems little, but it is much. It is the core of the principle of justice.

Contrary to what certain governments say, human rights are universal. Arbitrary detention, torture and discrimination hurt the human dignity of anybody, whatever his or her country of origin, religion, descent, or any other ground.

Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity.

It's wrong to flog a man. It's against his being a man.

Love for others and respect for their rights and their human dignity, irrespective of who or what they are, no matter what religion - or none - that they choose to follow, will bring about real change and set in motion proper relationships. With such relationships built on equality and trust, we can work together on so many of the threats to our common humanity.

The barbarous custom of having men beaten who are suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has always been recognized that this way of interrogating men, by putting them to torture, produces nothing worthwhile.