The Pro-Life Movement's Problem With Morality

The Washington Dispatch ^ | June 6, 2003 | Cathryn Crawford

[Qwerty]

"I feel sorry for your kids then, not to bright and a little immature."

I once read that all pity is self pity. At the time I thought it was BS, but now I'm beginning to see that there might be some truth to it...

[independentmind]

Indeed, which is why pro-lifers need to stop thinking they can win primarily with a war of words and use images instead (images of aborted babies).

I disagree. Different people can be reached in different ways. And, although I'm not opposed to public display of aborted fetuses, I don't think young children should be exposed to them.

[Sparta]

At my public school, some of my teachers were actually conservative while others were to the left of Marx. I think I even had one libertarian teacher. My politics are a mix of conservative and libertarian. So I used to debate and beat my leftist classmates and teachers on a routine basis.

As for the private high school (a Catholic High School) in my hometown, the student body was and many of their parents were CINOs (Catholics in Name Only). They were pro-abortion, I mean pro-choice; and voted usually for Dims based on economic issues and because their parents and granddaddy voted Rat. That's why the Louisiana GOP is in trouble.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Well...

The school I went to claimed to be Christian, but we have CINO, too. That's pretty much what it was comprised of. I argued with everyone. I usually won, simply because I was more stubborn and wouldn't give in till I did.

[Scenic Sounds]

some people [gcruse, qwerty] just don't get the simple concept of right and wrong and to use logic in place of that concept is a sham

Do you mean to tell me that even after you told them that you were right and they were wrong, they still weren't persuaded? ;-)

[William Terrell]

I long ago abandoned anti-abortion arguments funded in the Bible or biblical based morality. You only communicate to those who already agree with you, for the most part. There are a lot of purely logical arguments based in reality as observed by everyone.

[LanPB01]

Are you making a pass at me? I'm flattered.

[Cathryn Crawford]

I couldn't agree more.

[Copernicus]

Making claim to being pro-life in America is like shouting, “I’m a conservative Christian Republican!” from your rooftop.

Pro-life. Pro-lifer. Pro-life in America. These words are not in the dictionary, so what do they mean? Most people think they define a group of political operatives who also shout from the rooftops "I am a Conservative Christian Republican!" Most people would be wrong.

This is partly due to the fact that a considerable number of conservative Christian Republicans are pro-life.

True enough, a considerable number of conservative Christian Republicans are, in fact, pro-life.

It’s hardly true, however, to say that they are the only pro-life people in America. Surprisingly enough to some, there are many different divisions within the pro-life movement, including Democrats, gays, lesbians, feminists, and environmentalists. It is not a one-party or one-group or one-religion issue.

Equally true, however, is the fact a surprising number of other political philosophies also consider themselves pro-life as well.

The pro-life movement is diverse with many divisions that include Democrats, gays, Lesbians,Feminists and Environmentalists. It is not a one party,one-group or one religion issue.

Thought you might be interested in a sample "Strunk and White" translation. Note I have merely rewritten some of your lead paragraphs. Remember, if you make assertions you may be required to produce, for example, a lesbian pro-life advocate as proof of the truth of your assertion.

Best regards,

[Cathryn Crawford]

Not exactly...

[mafree]

Who does not share the view that murder (being the taking of an innocent human life) is wrong? If we do not argue that murder is a moral wrong, then why is murder wrong?

Most excellent questions.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Thank you very much.

By the way, I can back up the assertions I made. Otherwise I wouldn't have written them.

[MHGinTN]

Yet, because I do not share the zeal of those who would, along with the Left, regulate BEHAVIOR which harms no other ... The pro-life cause is about speaking out for those who have no voice in their demise, the little ones in the womb. It is also about defending the value of human life, as in embryonic life. Is it your contention that abortion harms no 'other'? Is it your contention that exploiting the earliest age of a human lifetime doesn't dehumanize the species? ... Would you like to discuss those issues?

[jwalsh07]

Logic - morality ----> relativism.

Ask yourself if you can envision scenarios where, logically speaking, it would be advantageous to kill innocent human life.

Then ask yourself if it would be moral to do so.

Computers work well with logic, human beings have an emotional component. To ignore that is to fight with one hand tied behind your back.

[Mr. Silverback]

Ooops.

ProLife Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my ProLife Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[Delphinium]

We may be within months or years of finding a "genetic" marker

I don't believe this is true science.

[jwalsh07]

I don't believe this is true science.

It's not false science either, in fact it is simply and uninformed opinion by somebody who has no "faith" in the mechanism known as natural selection.

[Delphinium]

Teachers have been trying to teach my son for the last few years of school that homosexuals are born that way. What about people who wake up in the morning desiring sex with 5 year olds?, or animals?

[attagirl]

Regarding your post 47...

Morality is a personal thing, and ethics is a legal matter. The only aspect of this that is even close to philospohical logic is ethics. It is legal. End of story.

Okay--here we go again...

Slavery once was legal. And morality is not a personal thing. It is based on logic. Ethics is dependent on morality.

The fact that abortion is legal shows you how disordered our society really is.

Killing another human being for whatever reason is never right and cannot be condoned. It's only logical that if one group is declared a non-person (arbitrarily) then other groups become vulnerable as well to the same treatment.

[Mr. Silverback]

Cathryn, you are razor-sharp, but you missed it by a wide margin on this one. Here's the best example:

It seems that the mainstream religious pro-life movement is not so clear when it comes to reasons not to have an abortion beyond the basic arguments that it’s a sin and you’ll go straight to hell.

I have been a part of the pro-life movement for half my life now. In that time I have I have never once witnessed anyone using this argument to convince women to avoid abortion or to convince the electorate to vote against it, much less use it as their primary line of argument. Not one person or message; not a single ad, editorial, speaker, politician, crisis pregancy volunteer, minister, or clinic protestor. I have not even heard this stuff from the sort of clinic protestors who stand in front of clinics with immense, grotesque photos of aborted fetuses. Never mind that the "go straight to hell" part of the argument is blatantly inconsistent with the Christian doctrine that you claim binds us to this argument.

I'm afraid that you have been suckered by the distorted image of the movement portrayed by the media of the Left as a bunch of sermonizing busybodies who have no interest in logical argument. Nothing is further from the truth.