Minty Fresh

We took the kids to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia last week. If you have kids, this is not a good place to take them. The mint is pretty well automated, and there's pretty much nothing for them to see. There is a self-guided tour that takes you past many many many many coins behind glass with plagues under them. There is nothing interactive. Even the gift shop was boring, with cheesy giant rubber coins and key chains containing a "lucky" penny.

There were a number of special medals made to honor various public figures. They generally had a likeness of the person on the obverse side (a term I learned at the mint) and some quote or something about the person on the reverse side. One of the medals features Jackie Robinson and featured this quote by him

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

Meaning no disrespect to Jackie Robinson or the designer of the medal, but that's about the worst quote I saw at the mint. While it sounds reasonable and even noble (who doesn't think it's worthwhile to touch other lives?), it's totally wrong.

You see, every life is important. Adolph Hitler had an impact on almost every life in the world in the last century. And yet the life of a child who dies in the womb (and thus only has impact on his parents) is equally important.

Posted in: abortion,Thought