Rettig looks to the story of Cain and Able and the infamous “am I my brother’s keeper?” to explore the question “for whom are we responsible?” He suggests that from the Cain and Able story, “we learn the first lesson in human responsibility toward other humans and its relationship with deadly violence.” He suggests that “yes” is the only response to Cain’s question. “Where human beings question their responsibility toward their fellows, death follows.” He offers the Holocaust and killings in Rwanda as modern day examples. Rettig concludes that, “How to be our brothers’ keeper is a complicated question to answer. Whether to do the best we can…is not complicated at all.”

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