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Friday, May 3, 2019

Are "Pro Lifers" The Deadliest "Baby Killers" Of All?


Are "Pro Lifers" The Deadliest "Baby Killers" Of All?

American conservatives posit -- always and everywhere - that "pro-Choice Americans are baby killers."

 Every Goddamn one of them.

 No exceptions.

 The morality is crystal clear: "The Saved" are destined for heaven and "The Baby Killers" are destined to spend eternity in "The Unquenchable Lake of Fire" where third degree bone-deep burns are perpetually "healed" just long enough so The Damned continually experience brand-new white hot roasting -- brought to them by The God of Love.

The Thinking Housewife: "We Can Be Pretty Sure That Many Good People Are Roasting In Hell"


What more could a "Christian" "conservative" want?

Indeed, is it even possible to hypothesize a more satisfying psycho-spiritual outcome than totally self-righteous moral indignation arising from Absolute Certainty that liberals and progressives are "Baby Killers?" 

 Voilà! 

 Conservatives are invested -- by God Himself -- with incontrovertible proof that "Baby Killers" are damned to eternal torment... and pro-Lifers, by virtue of opposing "The Slaughter of Innocents," are "Saved!"

There is not even need for pro-Lifers to entertain any explanation that does not link Baby Killers -- inextricably -- to Satan himself. 

 Baby killers! Baby killers! Baby killers!

 With this prologue in place, I will state my conclusion and then "back-fill" my argument.

For years, I have wrestled with the issue of abortion/

 But no matter how hard I try, the data obliges me to conclude that those societies with 1.) legal abortion, 2.) readily-available contraception, and 3.) "government-funded sex education in public schools" have lower abortion rates than countries without these features.

 Although the data clearly indicates that abortion rates are at least somewhat lower in countries offering 1.) legal abortion, 2.) accessible contraception and 3.) government-funded sex education, an even more fundamental conclusion is that abortion rates in countries with -- and without -- these 3 features have "similar enough abortion rates" -- sometimes -- that reasonable people can, in good conscience, conclude that more fetal lives will be saved whichever view they adopt.

 Perhaps the only incontrovertible "proof" in "all this" is that abortion has always taken place -- and will continue to take place -- even in those in those countries where abortion is illegal and which very often have higher abortion rates.

Oddly, an unspoken pro-Life belief is that the proscription of abortion will diminish the number of abortions when, in fact, there is no decisive proof of this. 

 To the contrary.

 Indeed, the evidence indicates that those societies that have made abortion illegal, have abortion rates that are - at least - slightly higher. (And often toweringly higher.)

 Consider.

 The stone memorial to The Ten Commandments on the grounds of Arkansas' capital building does nothing to influence the behavior of Arkansans.
Image result for "pax on both houses" guns abortion

 There is also a revealing moral quandary arising from the following "thought experiment."

 If an individual in a burning building only has opportunity to save one billion frozen embryos OR an armful of living infants, what should s/he do?

 By my lights anyone this side of moral monstrosity will save the armful of kids, sacrificing -- without lament or remorse -- the billion frozen embryos. ("How Frequent Is Spontaneous Abortion?" https://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/1001/p1243.html)

 This thought experiment intersects the nearly universal belief -- also held by conservatives -- that women who abort their children should NOT be punished.

 In the conservative view, "a murder has been committed" but the murderer (or at least the indispensable accessory to murder) should NOT be punished.

 Clearly, human beings consider fetal lives as categorically different from the lives of children who have already been born.

 Otherwise, why would we call for the death penalty in one instance and NO punishment in the other? (At least not for the mother.)

 There is no dispute that a fetus is a "human life." 

However, I invite you to consider the following photograph of a fertilized human zygote and ask yourself whether you would wager the eternal salvation of your children on the proposition that "the human life" embodied in a zygote is, in fact, a "human person."
A human zygote in the 8 cell stage.
Human zygote.
Human Person?
(Any room for democratic debate?)

 Clearly some people will say that a zygote is a human person if only to avoid the worst of all possible fates - "Losing One's Religion" and consequent "Identity Loss." 

 And so they "get off the hot seat" by declaring all manifestations of intrauterine life to be full-fledged human persons. 

 I do not believe that the "human life" embodied by a zygote is a human person. 

Furthermore, traditional Christian moral theology has long held that there is a so-called moment of "quickening," prior to which a fetus is not a human person, and after which the fetus is a human person. 

 In 1591 Pope Gregory concluded that "quickening" takes place at 166 days of pregnancy -- just over 16 weeks -- and only then does abortion become morally unacceptable. 
"Time For A Rational Debate On When Human Life Begins"

 Of course some people who argue against ALL abortion also argue that Donald Trump is a normal person and a "good Christian," when simultaneously they cannot provide ANY answer to the following question:

"The Love Of Money Is The Root Of All Evil" - An Open Invitation To Christian Conservatives

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-love-of-money-is-root-of-all-evil.html

Blessedly, there is no need to be ABSOLUTELY certain that all "baby killers" are cold-blooded murderers.

It is enough to acknowledge that there is room for doubt among conscionable people.

Once we realize that good, moral people can "come down" on both sides of "the abortion question," there is no longer temptation for people like me to self-righteously accuse Pro-Lifers of being more murderous than advocates of Choice.

Last but not least is the startling statistic that the U.S. abortion rate is now lower than it was before Rowe v. Wade.

To be clear: With legal abortion in place, the abortion rate in the United States is now lower than it was when there was no legal abortion.

NPR: U.S. Abortion Rate Falls Below Rate Prior To Rowe V. Wade, And Continues To Decline


Since it is also true that the abortion rate continues to fall, why is it desirable to discard a policies that -- beyond reasonable doubt -- made possible the happy circumstance of LOWER abortion rates?

I often suspect that those who strive to make abortion illegal are not doing it for the fetuses as much as they do it to enhance their self-righteous sense of being "Saved!" (simultaneously allaying their personal fear of being damned).

Of course, I could be wrong.

But that's the point.

On an issue as ambiguous as abortion -- and with so many people harboring different premises -- any of us could be wrong.

But it is also true that on both sides of the issue (if not multiple sides of the issue) people whose positions are diametrically opposed can review the data and reach reasonable conclusions in favor of abortion... or against it.

 But the fact that one's passionate belief reaches an equally passionate conclusion does not, ipso facto, make it so.

Abortion Rates Reach Historic Lows In Developed Countries (Where Abortion Is Legal)

The History Of Sex, Sin, Abortion And American Law. (An Eye-Poppingly Informative "1A" Show)

Catholic Nun, Sister Joan Chittester's Illuminating Distinction Between "Pro-Life" And "Pro-Birth"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/11/catholic-nun-sister-joan-chittesters.html
Cardinal Basil Hume: "Universal Healthcare And Infrequent Abortion Are Obviously Linked"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/03/cardinal-basil-hume-on-obvious.html
Paradoxically, Where Abortion Is Outlawed, The Abortion Rate Tends To Be Higher
Pro-Life Advocates Cause Abortion To Rise While Pro-Choice Advocates Cause It To Plummet
Abortion, Donald Trump, Conservative Christians And Marley's Chains
Kansas Abortion Protections Are Now Stronger Than Ever, A Stunning Reversal For A State Known For Anti-Abortion Extremism

 A final note:

In our democratic Republic, we are encouraged to support legislation consistent with our principles.

However, there is a growing (and mostly unacknowledged) theocratic movement in America, and this movement feels indifferent -- if not hostile -- to the survival of democracy.

Clearly, we are also free to advocate for the replacement of democracy with theocracy.

Frank Zappa Profesied A Fascist Theocracy. Barry Goldwater Agrees


However, if such replacement is the ultimate intent of pro-lifers -- particularly pro-life Christians -- that intent should be stated openly to ensure that the bedrock importance of the larger political discussion does not get lost in the debate over abortion particulars.

Short Form:
How The Values Of "Strict Father" -- Or "Indulgent Parent" -- Control Our Political Views

Long Form:
"Strict Father" And "Nurturant Parent": The Two World Views That Determine Our Political Values

Bad Religion Is The Cornerstone Of What's Wrong With America | made w/ Imgflip meme maker
Make no mistake: Bad religion is as real as good religion.

Image result for "pax on both houses" devout christian blaise pascal


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