I don't keep up with many blogs, but I have a gateway into the Catholic blogosphere through dear Mimsy and Sarah. I enjoy the weekly Catholic Carnival (although I rarely have the time to read it thoroughly), and have found some good posts through it.
But one thing that has consistently irked me throughout the past election season are the Pro-Life/Pro-McCain/Anti-Obama-on-the-basis-of-his-pro-choice-stand posts that turn up again and again. Now, to lay it honestly on the table...I personally would consider myself to be pro-life in the sense that I hope and pray that abortion would end. But most Catholics would disagree with my self-label, because I don't think abortion should be illegal. I think this presents a host of tough logistical issues (i.e. more "back-room" and even more unsafe abortions inevitably happening with less quality medical care and safety for mothers/patients), and I also think it's a bad band-aid for the problems of people having unwanted pregnancies (such as lack of education, poverty, etc.). I know I'm liberal on this, and I know many Catholics disagree, and I'm ok with that. There it is.
Having said that, the aspect of this whole thing that bothers me, is that the bloggers who post about their pro-McCain status and claim the pro-life issue as the most important issue ignore a crucial fact: Both the candidates were pro-death penalty. It frustrates me to no end that the pro-life movement consistently ignores this facet of the "life" issue when painting McCain as a rosy pro-lifer because he opposes abortion. Abortion is not the only life issue at hand. One of the anthems of the pro-life movement is "respect for life at all stages, from conception to natural death." Lethal injection, electric chair, etc = unnatural death.
I'm not saying, by any means, that Obama was a better candidate for the life issue. He wasn't, and isn't. But I get very angry at the selective filter that I so often see Catholics apply to the information they receive and share, and this was a huge instance of that. I think it makes us look ignorant and inconsistent, and the world needs to see a better sense of logic from us, or at the very least an acknowledgement that some matters are far more grey than we care to admit; in this case, that so many Catholic's pro-life candidate isn't a perfect pro-lifer.
3 comments:
Becky, you bring up a good point about the death penalty. I too get frustrated by that, and also by the end-of-life things that seem to get ignored as well. When I have pointed this out, I've been told (and I've read elsewhere) that while unborn babies are being killed, that trumps all.
I would take your point further, when we talk about abortion. (I do not agree with you, as I think you know, but I'm open to the discussion, because I think we can all use some stretch - some NICE stretching - on this - and that requires CONVERSATION in a CIVIL tone of voice!) When pro-life focuses only on babies, it ignores a critical fact. It ignores that those lives aren't just in utero; there are lives OUTSIDE THE WOMB as well, those of the women.
Until as a society, as a culture, as a PEOPLE, we address the problems underlying why abortion is such a popular alternative to birth, we can't solve anything. Oh, we can make it illegal, and some would say that's a first step. But does that really SOLVE things? (I think this is where you're going with this.)
Some good thoughts on abortion, that I'm just going to link to here and leave it to you to explore further:
Abortion and Holocaust
Being Pro-Life Outside the Voting Booth
That second link especially got me thinking along a line I had been starting after a long discussion with a sister-in-law who uses every inch of her noggin, and gets me to use more of mine with every discussion I share with her.
Have you read Real Choices, by Frederica Mathewes-Green? (Her website is www.frederica.com - just found it looking for a link to share here, and the link to the book is here.) After I read that - and it was harrowing - I gained a new perspective on abortion. I also gained perspective by volunteering at a pregnancy center for two years. It's interesting, seeing what help women need. It's also interesting; the people who come in are women, mostly.
Whether abortion is legal or not, we must ask ourselves what it IS. At one time, slavery was legal. I know that's probably a tire comparison for you, but it's been a pretty huge thing with this President-Elect that he's black. And that's a wonderful thing!
So, now I'm rambling, and dinner's ready, and the kids are exploding, and I have to get off. But thank you, dear Becky, for opening up this conversation. It takes a lot of courage to start a conversation where you know you don't hold the "popular" position, and perhaps a conversation where "right" and "wrong" are degrees on a moral compass only God can judge.
And, completely off-topic, LOVE your new layout. :)
Sarah,
It's been busy and crazy this week, but I'm been pondering the comment you left, and I appreciate it. I think that although we disagree on the basics, you understood what I was trying to get at by opening up the pro-life Pandora's box...and frankly, you said it far better than I. I'm not inherently opposed to abortion being illegal, but I am opposed to it being illegal now without putting the supports in place to help women who are facing the tough situations. I think we're skipping some steps and in doing so, it makes it easy for us to ignore the other problem that are going on with women in our society.
Thanks for the links, I've perused and will read more thoroughly this weekend when I have time. :)
Also, thank you for being civil. I think using our brains and talking things out gets us all much farther than refusing to listen.
Becky
One of the things I find most frustrating in my life as an adult is that adults are, so often, more badly behaved than kids. Disagreement is BOUND to happen between human beings. Being able to discuss things, and to disagree, is part of being human. We have forgotten, I sometimes think, how to be humans WELL.
*stepping off soap box*
Do read more, and, Becky, if you want to keep discussing it, I'm open to that. I wonder, really, if we *do* disagree. Maybe we have different ways of expressing the same things, and maybe we understand things differently.
A lot of disagreement, in my experience, is a battle over semantics.
But anyway, hope the busy slows down for you (though, I'm guessing, given the time of year, that's probably unlikely) and you get to savor some Advent peace. :)
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