I have waited a while to post this, because I did not want to seem insensitive. Even with that, however, I need to begin with a clear statement so that everything I say afterward will be taken correctly (hopefully). The death of Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa is a horrible tragedy. I prayed that she would be found alive, but that did not happen. I continue to pray for her and her family (I do not know if they are Catholic or even Christian). I also pray for the alleged murderer that he will repent of his sins. I have no intention of getting political in this.
That having been said, I want to point out something that I keep hearing and I pray that I am misunderstanding what I have heard. I have listened to numerous reports, and read a number of people talking about this case. It has been agonizing. One phrase that keeps getting repeated in reference to Mollie is that she was a "beautiful girl". Now, I will admit I have seen multiple pictures of her that the media have put out, and, yes, she is very attractive. I know nothing about her personally, but I think I recall someone mentioning that she was a very loving and kind person. I am not complaining about that.
It is hard to tell just what the references to "beautiful" are actually referring to. If the reference is to her personality, that would be a bit better than merely referring to her looks, but I am concerned at either reference. Yes, it is hard to feel saddened when an evil person dies, but a life is a life. Regardless of who is murdered, it is still murder. Yet, I have never heard anyone say, "it is such a shame that Mr. Smith, who was a wicked and vile person, was killed". If we are genuinely against murder, then we should be against the murder of anyone; young, old; black, white; nice, rude; ugly, pretty; law abiding citizen, or criminal.
No one's life should be "a waste" that causes us no concern when it ends. A genuine recognition of the dignity of life will lead us to a recognition of the need for capital punishment (that is the argument of the Scriptures, and of the Catholic Church for her entire history, in case you were unaware). This means that the dignity of the "beautiful girl" is at stake just as much as the dignity of the "ugly girl", for we are all made in the image of God (even if that image is completely scarred by sin). Many of the comments I have heard regarding Mollie Tibbetts make it sound like it is a worse tragedy because she was pretty (as though they wouldn't care as much if she were homely).
I know it is hard to avoid this kind of thinking, but we need to try; and we need to be diligent about it. This is important because it leads us to thinking in terms of one life being more important than another (and that is what made it easier for Hitler to justify genocide). What happens if someone decides that we as Catholics are not "beautiful" people? After all, we tell large portions of society that it is sinning, and that it needs to repent. This is certainly not considered to be a "beautiful" thing to most people outside the Church.
Mollie Tibbetts' death is a tragedy; not because she was pretty, or kind, but because she was human. What the murderer did was a sin. It was not, however, a sin because Mollie was loved by her family, but because God's commandments forbid murder. Let us truly respect life; all life. That means that it does not matter whether we like the person or not. It does not matter whether the person had friends or not. Unless that person has forfeited his life by taking another life (Genesis 9:6), then he has a right to life. Every "unnatural" or unexpected death (even proper capital punishment) is a tragedy, and it should cause us to mourn. That is what it means to be "pro-life".
