I don't generally do follow-up posts but this one just seems to merit it. I've been having a number of email conversations with you guys and they've been definitely interesting!
My thoughts on the matter are not concrete. My positions have changed and evolved over the years. Arlene called me out on my contradictory positions as she remembered them and I do have to confess that I used to be completely anti-choice - about nearly everything that contradicted what my moral opinion held true.
Let me lay it out as best I can.
Morally I am opposed to abortion.
Morally I am opposed to same sex marriage.
Legally - I don't think we have any leg to stand on in preventing same sex marriage. They're not doing anything illegal so how to you prevent them for claiming the same rights that are guaranteed to each of us living in the United States of America? No, I GET that you are morally opposed to same sex marriage - I get that you think it's wrong - but how do you LEGALLY justify denying rights to people? Either we all have the same rights, or we don't. And if YOU get to deny rights to a group of people, how long until you're denied a right that you feel you are entitled to? And who gets to decide that you should be denied?
I am vehemently opposed to abortion. I won't go into HOW opposed I am, but I am certainly in the pro-life camp. I think abortion is murder, no matter how you break it down. And that's MY opinion on the matter. I don't want to debate the science of when life begins or the viability of a fetus. I mourned the loss of each of my babies I lost in miscarriage - for me, life begins at conception. So, for me, abortion is murder. Murder is illegal.
Ah, but if murder is illegal then how can I be FOR the death penalty? Isn't the taking of any life considered murder? I go back and forth on the choice thing in regards to abortion. If I am for the death penalty then don’t I have to be for abortion? Because murder is murder no matter how you swing the bat, yk? I can’t be for one and against the other and call myself pro-life. Either taking a life is wrong or it’s not. I don’t think we should get to set guidelines based on what we “think” is right and wrong in regards to taking life. While I wish there was an isolated island somewhere that we could exile all pedophiles to for the rest of their lives – and though I may wish some of them would just expire of natural causes and save the world some heartbreak – I can’t say, without a doubt, that we should kill someone that perpetrates a crime like this. Or any crime, for that matter. I might think they DESERVE to die, but who am I to make that distinction and to unequivocally say that we should end their lives?
The eye for an eye thing doesn't sit well with me because if you're going to take that literally then wouldn't you have to rape every rapist? Embezzle from those that embezzle? Manslaughter someone that committed manslaughter? And murder those that commit murder?
Wouldn't THAT be an eye for an eye?
So, I don't know. I don't have all of the answers other than to say that I know I don't want *MY* choices made by someone else. God gave me the ability and the right to make choices and, for the most part, it's upheld by the laws of the country we live in. If my choices aren't illegal or directly hurting other people than how can people tell me I can't make them? How can I tell people they can't make *THEIR* choices as long as they are following the law and not hurting other people?
I just don't know.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
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15 comments:
First, I think you are very brave to address these issues in a public forum. Good for you. Second, I don't disagree with what you are saying--I totally get it. However, I do know that there are people who feel that certain choices DO hurt other people. I won't go into it b/c I don't want a debate in my life right now--but the long term consequences of these choices can be detrimental to individuals and our society as a whole. It's a real Chinese puzzle, that's for sure.
I've been meaning to tell you, I'm very impressed with your emails. I never email anyone about a comment. I'm lazy like that.
This is, as you know, a difficult topic for me to wrap my brain around. Certain things I feel confident enough and strong enough to go to a poll and vote, but maybe not protest.
I think the bigger picture is, I feel so blessed that we live in a democratic government. We can vote for things. We can let our legislature know how we feel about just these things.
Heaven knows that I don't have all the answers but I think it's important to stay educated and vote even if it's for a moral reason. I know that's not where you were going with this, but it struck me as something I needed to say.
I love how honest and open you are :) It's refreshing :)
GAH! Blogger is giving me fits. I don't think the comment I just spent 5 minutes on went through???
Amen! I feel the same way. I believe God will take care of those that rape and murder, and molest. We can put them in Jail but I don't know about murdering them. Especially since our system wrongly convicts. Thank you for the words about gay marriage. I am in the same boat as you. It is called separation of church and state:O)
I hear you...reconciling all this is tough.
Wow. I'm impressed. :)
Must run to the baseball game and the band concert, but will review this in more detail later.
kill the murderers...not the babies...let the gays get married, so long as you don't have to have gay sex with them.
got it...
Killing a baby because you had sex and don't want the consequences hardly equates to a "Jeffrey Dahmer".
I totally agree with everything you said...its a complicated world and issues. Both issues (Abortion and Homosexuality) are kind of touchy issues, but as a hetrosexual guy (with very little contact with gays or lesbians), its hard to put myself in their shoes, really. I cannot get pregnant (thank God), so I dont feel like I can tell a woman what to do in the case of an unwanted pregnancy (or any other time for that matter, my wife doesnt listen to me anyway). And the Gay marriage issue...who is the "groom" and who is the "bride"? (though we all mentally size that up when we see these pictures). In the end, you and everyone else should be allowed to have as many younguns as you can stand to have because that is your God-given right!!! And God bless all of you!
I've really enjoyed the e-mail chat we had! :-) Thanks for hashing it out with me a bit. I'd like to say I have a better idea of how I stand on these issues, but I dunno. Why does it have to be so complicated?
On a completely separate note, I have an award for you: http://proudbooknerd.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-awards.html
I don't think we can tell each other what to choose. It goes back to the popular..."those without sin should cast the first stone..."
Gosh...political discussion and quoting the bible. I must be off my "hands off sticky topics" rule.
Quoting one of my favorite musicals:
Villager: "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth!"
Tevye: "Very good. That way the whole world will be blind and toothless."
A cute way of saying it doesn't really work out well that way. I'm more into karma - we all get ours, eventually, in some way. And I'm very much against the death penalty. The Universe, or G-d, or whatever gets to ultimately judge and mete out punishment.
As far as not hurting other people - there are many things we do that are perfectly legal that hurt other people. And many times, people choose to be hurt. In my younger years I pondered a great deal over that concept from "Jonathon Livingston Seagull".
But, I'm delighted to see that your position on some of these issues has softened. I'd like to point out that some people who may speak against things that are dear to you (lots of kids) may, in time, change their positions as well. No need to demonize them just as there was no need to demonize you when you held opinions that were contrary to mine (which are, of course, always correct).
I don't consider abortion a debatable topic, so we're good there. :) That may be the only one.
Equal rights for all! Women, blacks, homosexuals...
Happy Mother's Day!
You're a brave person to even broach these topics on your blog.
Good for you for putting your beliefs out there and standing behind them.
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