1) They are a person made in the Image and Likeness of God, and therefore, possessors of an intrinsic dignity and worth not conferred on them (and thus irrevocable) by any other human being, and
2) They are a sinner in desperate need of God's mercy.
It has long seemed to me that most, if not all, of the cultural/political quarrels of our day stem from emphasizing one or the other of these truths at the expense of the other, preferring to see their fellow-citizens (and themselves) as either only god-like, or only depraved. And that those who agree with them are especially god-like, and those who disagree with them are wicked fools.
But the Christian knows (and I would submit that empirical evidence suggests) that he and his fellow-humans are neither all one, nor all the other, but both at once, holding these seemingly contradictory truths in tension. As Solzhenitsyn said, "the line between good and evil runs through the middle of every human heart. . ."
