Why Sometimes I Hate My Brain....

***So I got this e-mail today. It was the continuation of a very rational, calm conversation I was having with a reader who was explain how a particular chapter in the book Freakonomics had softened some of his views on abortion...

"Good Day Destiny:

Here is MY summary and take on Chapter 4 of Freakonomics entitled "Where Have All the Criminals Gone?"

First the disclaimer.  This is my view of the chapter and I would expect other people to get views that would be somewhat different.  I think I got the gist, but everyone should read it for themselves.  I have not checked what the authors have presented, but what they say makes sense to me.

The fundamental bases on which they explain the dramatic lowering of crime in the United States that began in the early 1990's is Roe vs. Wade, January 22, 1973, which said that abortions are legal.  

They simply took the following known information and connected the dots;  criminals begin their serious career during their late teens, the vast number of criminals come from broken homes, are not wanted as children, and the very large majority of abortions are from low income single women who, for all kinds of reasons, do not want the children they were carrying.  Thus, when abortions became legal the supply of potential future criminals was severely curtailed and the crime rate correspondingly decreased.

The crime rate drop was an unintended consequence of the Roe vs. Wade decision and in this case I view it as positive.

So, this has had a profound effect on MY "abortion position" which is the following:

1.  An abortion is the killing of an unborn person.  On this I cannot compromise.  In a abortion the most innocent and least represented of all the parties involved has no advocate.  Their are no police, no grand jury, no indictment, no trial, no judge, no jury, no defense attorney, and no appeal! 

2.  And thus I do not believe that abortion is the woman's decision alone.  Their are other people involved, principally the unborn person, the father of the child, parents of the mother and father, etc., but also society as a whole.

3.  But because so much damage can be done to society as a whole by the unwanted children aborted I live, very uneasily, with abortion.

I do not pretend my position is one of which I am overly proud and absolutely strongly feel that among the aborted children there undoubtedly was/is a Lincoln, an Einstein, a Shakespeare, etc., but I justify it by feeling that there was/is also a Hitler that we will not have to endure.

There is also additional fallout from this position two of which are the following:  if we can accept abortion, which I feel is the killing of the most innocent person of our society, can we not accept the assisted killing of the elderly, who exist only, or diseased people with no hope of recovery.  To me by accepting abortion, which in the US there is close to 1,000,000 a year, how in the world can anyone get upset over the death penalty, which is the killing of a person, who has been given all the things denied an aborted unborn child and found guilty of a hedious crime.  

Indeed my position on abortion rests on a very slippery slope."

***And then I went kinda nutzo....my reply...

   

So we've replaced criminals with legalized murderers?

photo ©2009 elle moss

I do not use that word lightly, and honestly can say I have never once called a women that (until now I guess), but it seems necessary in order to make my point here. We are saying that by murder 55 million children, just in the US alone since Roe v. Wade, it is ok because we've seen a decrease in crime? I guess I don't think we have. We're just choosing which criminal to prosecute and which crimes to legalize. Perhaps I need to read the book in order to get a clearer picture.

To me abortion has created a whole culture which devalues life. Everything is "me-centered" and I come from the generation where it's the worst. We tell them, "Sweetie, as long as you did everything you could by trying to kinda use the condom or thinking about maybe, perhaps getting on the pill, then this is not your fault. You're too special and talented to let a baby ruin your life." It's like a perfect sh*t storm, pardon my language....it's just way worse than a regular storm. We all think we're so damn special we can't see past our own noses; we think as long as we "tried" not to get pregnant than that counts and trumps any life that was created; we're told it's a blob/a right/liberating, and that raising children is below us, bad for the economy/our almighty self esteem/and overpopulating the planet. And it's the one instance in society where we are given a total get out of jail free card. There is NO consequence for ending a human life in the name of "choice."

Why? Money of course. IMO, it's one of the hugest and most blatant conspiracies out there. The federal government can not afford to raise your broke/mooching/non-voting kid for the next 18-years because by then the current administration will be over, and no telling if your product of conception will still even like us. There's no instant payoff and a lot of upfront investment. So kill 'em!....oh and tell people it'll keep criminals of the streets so they'll all be ok with it since it'll make them safer. Nobody cares more about them than them, oh and us, so that spin might even buy us votes. 

But what about the woman, post-abortion? What about when she realizes something in her has changed and a little piece of her has been stolen with a lie? She certainly can't tell anyone, she'd sound too "un-liberated" by her experience, not to mention crazy, since she's mourning a blob. So she doesn't. She suffers in silence, acts out in anger, grief, and guilt. But society's better because there's less crime out there...as long as we don't count the 55 million womb invasions. Our streets are safe....even if our classrooms aren't...or our malls, places of worship, and movie theaters. Couldn't have anything to do with the culture we've created though because we aborted *most* of murders by murdering them first....

This is a rant, and I'm sorry for that. Half way through I started writing for myself and completely forgot I'd either have to press send or delete. :) I think I'm just through with rationalizations. They never end. If we A-bombed the 5 poorest states in the US it'd probably do great things for our federal budget, but oh yeah, it would cost us our souls.

It may not seem like it, but I try sooooo hard not to be a fanatic....to speak other people's languages, and understand where they're coming from. But when do we just say enough is enough? There are some absolute truths. It's possible to be opinionated without being judgmental, I firmly believe that. All it takes is speaking in love. And my heart breaks for my post-abortive friends. I cannot even imagine what they've gone through. I will do anything I can to help them heal, with one exception. I will not justify or rationalize abortion. It is the taking of a human life. Somethings are black and white. And we must shout those things from the rooftop. Because there are 55 million people who are not here today, that can't. 

...

Also, if this is true, than we better hold on to our hats because we're reaching insane numbers of single parent homes. Some women choose not to abort, so what next? Forced abortions and sterilizations in the name of societal safety? Slippery slope in deed....

P.S. That last little bit of alliteration was too much, even for me. My apologies.

For Life,
Destiny

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Post by Destiny