On 29/07/2006, at 12:52 PM, Brother John wrote:
Perhaps it is an overstatement to say that every sperm is sacred, but human life most definitely is. And if our popular culture no longer values the sacred, or even understands the meaning of the term "sacred," we have lost a big part of what makes our own lives valuable.
Totally disagree. The value of humans is in what we do and who we are and our individuality, not in the fact that we're of the same species. And "sacred" has a religious component that is utterly meaningless to those who are not religious.
I mean, we think nothing of stepping on ants.
You may not. I do.
We don't need to think of a sperm or zygote as "sacred." But we should consider what we do when we cultivate a sentiment among us that babies don't matter and are no more worthy to live than germs, and less worthy to live convicted murderers.
Again, the constant equating of "zygotes" to "babies". Why can you not see that it's possible to value them both, but differently? Even if you disagree.
Abortion may not be murder, but it is certainly a form of child abuse, a rather terminal one.
An embryo doesn't seem to be a child.
I'd be willing to bet anything that the hard-hearted men and women who abort unborn children don't love those that are born very much either.
What utter utter bullshit. "Hard-hearted"??? It's often the hardest decision someone has to make. A couple with 3 kids who love those kids very much might have a contraception failure. If she becomes pregnant, they might decide to abort for the sake of the kids they already have. They don't love their kids any less.
This whole "if you loved children, you couldn't consider abortion" and "if you abort you must not value human life" is nasty, insidious and untrue, and it's the worst kind of polarising of the viewpoints that I was talking about earlier.
It seems to me that most of the atheists I know are just as ethical as anyone else, and spend a lot of time thinking about social responsibility and equality issues.
Charlie _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
