Quote of the Week: "God holds the keys to life and death - not men"

I've had a long absence, but now that my life finally seems to be less busy, I will be posting here a bit more :)

As many of you are aware, I am a HUGE fan of the American organization Secular Pro-Life. I'm such a huge fan, that I have spent much of my time wishing and praying that such an organization existed in Canada, so that I could join them. I am a Catholic, but I am extremely wary of using solely "religious" arguments against abortion because I know that for someone who isn't Christian (and actually for many Christians), the Bible holds absolutely no weight, and if we only focus on Bible quotes and eternal damnation, then we aren't convincing the abortion lobby of anything and lives will continue to be lost. Anyway, this tension between the "religious" and "secular" is often on my mind.

And lo-and-behold, I just downloaded abort73's book on abortion and Christianity, and the author managed to say exactly what I have always thought about this issue, only much more eloquently. So without further ado, here is the quote of the week:

"I had one explanation for why abortion is wrong: Revelation 1:18. God holds the keys to life and death - not men. That was good enough for me, but it didn't go very far in public debate. [...] Because I had framed abortion in such narrow, spiritual terms, I had almost no capacity to demonstrate its injustice. And so I stayed quiet. All these years later, it's ironic that I so often condemn abortion on scientific grounds while my opponents defend it on pseudo-religious grounds. I argue that abortion kills a living human being; they argue that they're not yet persons. I argue that there is no debate regarding the biological beginning of human life; they argue there is more to being human than biology. I argue that embryos and fetuses are just as human as we are; they argue that they don't have a soul (even if they call it something else). [...] [I]t can actually be easier to argue against abortion from biology than from the Bible."

- Michael Spielman (from his self-released book: Love the Least (a lot))

Thoughts on a Mother's Day Dinner Conversation

First of all, Happy Mother's Day! 

Today I had a lovely Mother's Day dinner at my parents' house. While there, of course conversations turned towards politics (as they are wont to do when my family gathers) and someone mentioned how politics in the US focuses too much on religious issues like abortion and gay marriage, and that these issues distract from what is truly important, like the economy or bombing the living daylights out of Iraq. I stayed silent throughout the conversation, as I prefer to listen to what other people think rather than bulldoze through and push my beliefs on people (besides, there was no way I was going to start a heated debate on Mother's day). Anyway, there were four things that struck me about the conversation.

1. The sympathy for Obama. I just don't understand how anyone can have sympathy or support a president who signed into law a bill which codifies indefinite detention without trial (see commentary from Human Rights Watch here), or encourages US citizens to report those who disagree with the president's policies. Talk about having rose-coloured glasses! Even my ridiculously pro-abortion, far-left, NDP-worshiping friends no longer support him. Of course, these are the friends who actually follow politics and don't get all their news from the MSM.

2. The claim that abortion/gay marriage issues are unimportant. If both were completely outlawed overnight, I guarantee these same people would be up in arms over the human rights violations. So basically, these issues should only be considered unimportant if you are against them, but they are of course very important human rights issues if you support them. Everyone take note - if you ever come across someone who disagrees with you, just claim their views don't matter in the grand scheme of things!

3. The claim that abortion and gay marriage are in anyway comparable, and are "religious" issues. One allows two men or two women to have their relationship recognized by the state, the other allows doctors to dismember, disembowel, starve, burn, and/or poison a member of our human species. Where exactly does religion come in (beyond the fact that the Catholic church has an opinion on both issues), and how exactly are these things the same? This is why I believe the pro-life community as a whole has to forget about the gay marriage debate, and focus only on life issues like abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide. And we really need to focus on secular arguments, similar to the work of CCBR or SecularProlife. When our fellow humans are being legally killed, things like gay marriage or belief in Christianity just don't matter. Let gay unions be recognized by the state. Let people be atheists. Focus on saving lives. Or at the very least, separate these aspects of your activism. I firmly believe that once people realize that they can be against abortion, but pro-gay rights, or pro-secular things in general, our community will explode in numbers.

4. The irony of being against war, but being in favour of abortions. Both are violent, and both end innocent lives in brutal ways. But one takes place in a doctor's office, so it's okay. 

Anyway, those are my thoughts for today :) I've been very busy lately, but I will update my post on the Canadian March for Life ASAP, promise!! Love you all <3 

The Abortion Debate is not a Religious Issue

From the National Post: Is the Abortion Debate Really About Religion?

I've always said you don't have to be Christian to believe that abortion is wrong. The fact that I am Christian has absolutely no bearing on the fact that I'm pro-life. And there ARE non-Christians out there who are just as pro-life as I am. Love this article, and so glad its getting some face time on the news. So many people dismiss the pro-life position because it is "Christian" (as if that is a good reason to ever dismiss any position *sighs* but that's beyond the point). Anyway, hope this makes some people think about their stereotypes, on both sides of the debate. :)