I am sure that even you would agree, Dr. Brin, that there are some
situations that do not call for pragmatic compromise.
I agree with that leading statements, though it all depends on the pragmatic
tradeoffs. Read LeGuin's "Those who walk away from Omelas".
Indeed, there are many times to take a pure and passionate stand. I am deeply
suspicious of the underlying emotional reasons behind the choice of abortion as a
stand, which must be ratcheted earlier with each new medical advance, till we must
sing (as in Monty Python) "Every Sperm is sacred".....
For example, if you
were a Hutu in Rwanda in the mid-1990's, it would be pragmatic for you to
not speak out against the government-sponsored genocide, while also
choosing to not participate in the killing of Tutsis with your fellow
Hutus. Yet, is this sort of compromise really the appropriate course of
action for an enlightened humanist? A similar situation would be in
1930's - as an enlightened humanist, do you give safe refuge to Jews
fleeing persecution? Or do you agitate for a pragmatic compromise whereby
Jews are taken to camps for hard labor, but without execution? Or do you
romantically agitate for the "whole loaf" - a German society where Aryans
and Jews live side by side in peace?
In short, I find your distinction between the "pragmatic compromise" of
"enlightened humanists" and the "whole loaf" approach of "neocon romantics"
to be utterly unpersuasive. For one thing, it seems to me that the
choice between "pragmatic compromise" and "whole loaf" is largely
determined by the gravity of the situation, rather than ideology.
Moreover, if anything, pro-life advocates have taken precisely the
"pragmatic compromise" approach you appear to advocate. I haven't seen a
serious push for a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution in quite some
time. Rather, pro-life advocates have instead persued a ban on the
horribly grisly Dilation&Extraction/Partial-Birth procedure, we have
persued parental/judicial notification laws for minors, we have persued
mandatory waiting periods for abortions, and soon you will see push for a
ban on gender-selection abortions. On the other hand, it has been the
pro-choice advocates who have opposed all of these very reasonable and
pragmatic compromises at every step of the way.
JDG
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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