Political Dehumanization as a Strategy of Power: A Theological and Pastoral Reading

For decades, Reformed pastors have warned that ideas do not emerge in a vacuum. Behind political discourse lie worldviews that, when detached from biblical truth, produce practices that are profoundly anti-Christian. One of the most persistent patterns of the last century has been the animalization of political opponents as a tool for control, exclusion, and ultimately the justification of violence.

Calling an opponent an "animal" is not an innocent metaphor. It is a moral operation. Once a person is stripped of their humanity, any ethical obligation toward them is weakened. Animals are not debated with; they are removed, contained, or exterminated. This logic has been repeated with striking consistency by different ideological regimes.

Documented historical examples:

• When Hugo Chávez in Venezuela compared his political adversary to a pig. During the Venezuelan election campaign, President Hugo Chávez disparaged his opposition rival in highly dehumanizing terms, saying that the candidate had a "pig's tail, pig's ears" and that he "snorts like a pig" and is a "low-life pig" in public speeches. This was broadcast widely and became a defining example of political animalization in the region. The rhetoric was not merely colorful; it worked to reduce the opposition to something non-human and contemptible in the eyes of supporters.
• Fidel Castro. After the Cuban Revolution, the regime began referring to political opponents as worms. The term did not describe a political position but an allegedly inferior and parasitic condition. This narrative facilitated persecution, forced exile, and the imprisonment of thousands. Language came before repression.
• Adolf Hitler In Nazi Germany, Jews were systematically portrayed as rats or parasites. This animalization was central to the cultural construction that made the Holocaust possible. Before extermination camps, there were pamphlets, speeches, and caricatures. Dehumanization was the first step.
• Joseph Stalin. During the Stalinist purges, dissidents were labeled rabid dogs or vermin. Such language prepared the ground for mass executions, deportations, and forced labor camps. The enemy was no longer a citizen but a pest.
• Pol Pot. The Khmer Rouge described certain urban and intellectual groups as insects that needed to be crushed. The result was one of the most brutal genocides of the twentieth century.

These examples are neither accidental nor confined to a single ideology. They express the same spiritual logic: denying God-given dignity in order to claim absolute power over another's life.

Scripture is clear from the beginning. "So God created mankind in his own image; in the image of God he created them" Genesis 1:27.

Human dignity does not come from the State, the party, or social usefulness. It comes from the Creator. Therefore, any narrative that reduces a human being to a beast, a pest, or an object is not neutral. It is a rebellion against the created order.

Animalization is not new. The language of darkness has always sought to degrade the bearer of the divine image. In Romans 1, Paul describes how the rejection of God leads to the distortion of truth and the darkening of the mind. When God is displaced, humanity ceases to see itself as creature and begins to see itself as resource, obstacle, or biological enemy.

As Reformed pastors, we cannot normalize this language, regardless of which political side uses it. Our loyalty is not tribal or ideological; it is theological. Wherever the image of God is degraded, the Church must raise a clear, sober, and firm voice.

This is not political naivety but doctrinal faithfulness. We can rigorously confront ideas, systems, and policies. What we cannot do is accept a narrative that denies the humanity of our neighbor, because in doing so we erode the very foundation on which Christian ethics stand.

Every time a culture begins to call people animals, history teaches us that violence is already on the way. Language does not merely describe reality; it prepares it. In the face of this recurring trend, the Church is called to reaffirm a non-negotiable truth: we are the image of God. That image is not lost because someone thinks differently, votes differently, or dissents from power.

Where darkness animalizes, the Gospel humanizes. Where power degrades, Christ restores. This remains our mission.

In Him,

Christian Sebastia