Because I Didn’t Feel Up To Original Content (I’ve Got A Cold And I’m Still Working)

On Abortion

“If morality is the point here, and if it’s right or wrong, not just a political question, then you can’t have 50 different versions of what’s right and what’s wrong” Mike Huckabee

Going to a humanistic but practical definition of the Moral Good outlined by a Philosophy professor I took a class with:

Moral good is a quality of the action or intention of a free and knowing agent, which action/intention adds/preserves the physical i.e.biological, psychological, economic, etc–whatever is “natural”(to the object) good of some natural whole such as humans and other species in some rational subordination to human and with keeping in mind the distinction between essential goods and incidental (trivial) goods.

In the issue of Abortion, are there some benefits which are essential and some which are trivial? In a relative scale, a continuum, are there some benefits which are better than others?

What are the benefits of Abortion as defined by it’s supporters?

• Health of the mother.
• Protection of the victim in cases of rape and/or incest.
• Protection from abuse of the mother and/or an unwanted child.
• Protection of those who are going to abort anyways by providing safe/legal environment to have it performed.
• Preventing deformed and handicapped children from having a less worthwhile life.
• Quality of life of the rest of the family.
• Happiness.

To these I would add protection of the perpetrators of rape and incest.

What are a few of the problems with Abortion? The anti-goods. This list is very short. I wanted general categories rather than specifics.

• Abortion kills human life.
• Abortion causes physical and emotional issues in the mothers.
• Abortion destroys potential.

Now, compare any other these items in these two lists, the “goods” against the “bads”, and is there a case where the “goods” are morally superior to the “bads”? For the sake of our discussion, how do the list of “goods” and “bads” line up on the continuum from essential to trivial?

In the extreme case, perhaps the strongest, most emotionally charged arguments for Abortion are those involving rape and incest and the life of the mother. How do these cases compare in the essential to trivial continuum with those against Abortion?

I would submit that killing a human to resolve an ugly, evil situation such as rape or incest does not mitigate the evil of the original situation nor the lasting consequences of it. If anything, adding the guilt of murder to an already traumatized victim cannot be a safe course of action.

And what of the child? The child has no say in the circumstances of it’s conception. The child could well be a prodigy, it could be special needs, it could be normal and unique like all other children. With special needs children, any person who can look at such a child and not be struck both the intense love such a child needs and is capable of reciprocating, is sorely lacking in humanity. The point is, to unjustly cut off the potential of any child at any point is a grave mistake and a crime with few equals.

Therefore, comparing the competing cases, we see that on the continuum, any benefit to the mother to be attained by killing her child would be trivial compared to the essential goods to be attained in the potential of that child.

And what of the idea that another child could rob the older children of some of their owed love from their parents? Is love a zero-sum game, where there is a set and finite amount of love contained in this world, that to add to those who need love we subtract from the total available to any other? To believe that is to believe a lie, an obvious and tawdry lie. A child both receives love and gives love, adding to the total love in a family. Love is not, cannot be, selfish. We experience love when we are not even the direct or intended recipients of it. To witness love is to feel love and experience it. As older children observe their parents giving of themselves, selflessly, to a new and dependent child, they can understand true love as it is modeled for them.

Finally, what of happiness? Is a smaller family a happier family? Are children likely to be aborted more likely to experience unhappy lives? It is true that abortion primarily appeals to poor and minority families (Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, was a documented White Supremacist and supported eugenics and abortion as methods of controlling what she deemed to be unworthy aspects of society), but are these necessarily unhappy families? If even one of the children may experience a happy family, basic decency demands we give that child the chance to experience that life. And not every child who experiences an unhappy child will necessarily experience an unhappy adulthood. We are not automatons completely dependent on our situations and histories. Instead, we have choice in how we respond and react to each of our situations. To deny the chance that child may grow up to use their troubled history as a springboard to launch them into the far reaches of achievement in society and culture. Or do you have so little faith in humanity?

Abortion is wrong, evil, hateful, arrogant, stupid, and blind.

Real Baghdad

This is what’s happening in Iraq now:

Michael Yon has catalogued the truth of the war and the life and the rebuilding of Iraq. This picture and the accompanying article spoke volumes to me, as I hope it does to you. And yes, those are Muslims in the front row, showing their public support for their Christian friends and neighbors who fled persecution by radical Islamics. They want them to come home.

Send The Rain

J, given our pronounced differences on the state of America’s religious underpinnings and the propriety of visible exercise and application of religious beliefs by public officials: what is your take on the Governor of Georgia, Sonny Perdue, leading a session of intercessory prayer with Christian leaders on the steps of the State Capitol asking God to send rain on the drought-affected region?

“We’ve come together here simply for one reason and one reason only: To very reverently and respectfully pray up a storm,” Perdue said.

I believe that, just as an individual does not lose their responsibility to follow God’s commands. There is never a wrong time to humble ourselves, pray, and seek our God’s face. In the same way there is never a wrong time to speak and act for the truth.

Do your ideas differ or not?

Wealth Begets Religious Apathy, Except In The U.S.

Over at the Acton Institute’s Power Blog, Jordan Ballor mentions a survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project finding that the wealthier a country, the less citizens’ lives revolve around religion. The one country bucking the trend? The U.S., but why?

Ballor gives a somewhat lengthy and ambiguous answer.

Ballor theorizes that it is America’s heritage and the “penetration of the Gospel message into people’s hearts and minds.” As an example, he notes that Satan’s attacks American’s differently than others. He quotes a John Piper column, “Gutsy Guilt:”

“The great tragedy is not masturbation or fornication or pornography. The tragedy is that Satan uses guilt from these failures to strip you of every radical dream you ever had or might have. In their place, he gives you a happy, safe, secure, American life of superficial pleasures, until you die in your lakeside rocking chair.”

Interesting thoughts and worth a read, if nothing else, for the mental exercise.

Around The World In 80 Seconds

Germany

American feminists tend to be firmly in the anti-war camp these days, and firmly against any attempt to stop radicalized Islam taking over countries and cultures in it’s quest for world domination. A female world leader who has actually accomplished something beside marry ‘Slick’ Willy, Andrea Merkel, has begun championing a cause modern American feminists would likely faint over.

Japan

A popular praise of Japan is it’s extremely low murder rate. Now, I’m not one to naturally jump to splitting hairs and such, but apparently we should be speaking of Japan’s extremely low reported murder rate.

America

United Kingdom

Note: I am posting this article in whole because the blog it belongs to apparently is completely off-line or dead, neither of which cases make me happy. The original article was here, written by Dave of Out of Ergyng, but the link, when I checked, was dead.

**Update: Apparently the blog was just down for a bit. It’s now up, and I’m glad for that.**

The concern of the emergency services for health and safety rules has cost a boy his life. James Poynton collapsed on a beach near Liverpool. First his parents were told an ambulance wouldn’t be sent until they could be sure of the spelling of the nearest road. When the ambulance arrived, the paramedic didn’t run to his rescue. She walked. She didn’t want to be out of breath. According to the Daily Mail:

A spokesman for North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust confirmed that its staff generally would not run on uneven ground as they were carrying heavy equipment and might not be able to carry out resuscitation if they were out of breath.

But for those Americans looking forward to Hillary Clinton’s vision of socialise medicine (okay, you probably aren’t reading this blog if you do), there’s more to this story. His mother had been told the day before he died that his heart condition was non-urgent, so he wouldn’t be seen. The letter offering him an MRI scan at a future date arrived the day after he died.

Everywhere But Malibu Beach

Apparently beautiful women are smarter. But I already knew that. After all, the most beautiful woman in the world likes me, and she’s brilliant too.

10 Qualities To Look For In A Wife

John Shore put down an excellent list that bears reading in it’s entirety.

Highlights include:

2. So wise she makes Confucius look like Goober Pyle.
Upside: Your own private oracle!
Downside: Wise people are extremely good at anticipating the outcome of things that slightly less wise people do. Not entirely gratifying.

3. So perfectly matches your idea of heart-stoppingly gorgeous that just looking at her wipes every thought out of your head.
Upside: Constant aesthetic revelation.
Downside: It’s rude to stare.

8. Shares your spiritual values.
Upside: The regular achieving of deep and mutual spiritual experience simultaneously realized.
Downside: None.

And yes, I readily admit to being twitterpated.

Why Us?

A friend asked me a question last night which caught me by surprise. I had honestly never considered this question and am still digesting it’s implications.

Rather than give an answer right away, let me pose the question to you:

Why did such wide forms of progress (societal, scientific, medical, moral, religious, economic, governmental) occur in Europe (during times such as the reformation or the renaissance) and not in Africa?

This question is of especial importance for several historically cultural and certain current events. The legendary Dr. Watson (not of Holmsian fame but of DNA) has recently raised news and hackles with his claim that Africans have lower intelligence. (If you want an opinion of this event showing the ugliness of the evolutionary philosophy and relativist philosophy while making several very valid points, read here). And radical Islam, in it’s eons-old battle against light and right, spread rapidly across North Africa, preventing much exploration based on over-land expeditions.

Is this just an ethno-centrist or xenophobe who doesn’t appreciate the fear which prevented most Europeans from learning more about the dark continent or the difficulty of mounting a meaningful expedition to enlighten the interior? I think not. While there was general human progress, the tribal structure enjoys a mutually supportive relationship with human evil, allowing jealousy, avarice, and greed to rule. There were medicinal benefits, but none along the lines of antibacterial discoveries and exploration of the human body such as Europe enjoyed. It would seem that scientific and cultural progress happened in spite of, instead of because of, any passing of time in these two vast cultures.

And what of Asia? How does Asia affect this question? Was Asia a superior culture to Europe or not? Why?

I don’t have answers to all these, but as I continue to ponder the nature of this beast I hope to write a few bits here and there.

The Bush Doctrine

Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe—because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place for stagnation, resentment, and violence for export.
~President George W. Bush, November 6, 2003, in a speech before the National Endowment for Democracy

This quote concisely defines the doctrine of engagement. When in WWII it was the Republican party arguing against aggressive engagement of the foreign powers for evil, it is now the Democrat party which eschews engagement and shuns real projection of power and moral authority.

Moral authority comes not from our own moral rightness. No one is perfect or capable of wielding moral authority based on their own success or ability.

Moral authority comes instead from a general ability on the part of the entity wielding said authority to conform to and support that moral code, as defined by a non-human superior entity, a deity. God. God is the only being capable both of creating, defining, and enforcing a moral code. Moral authority comes from some form of following God’s defined moral rules.

America is not perfect, it is not even mostly perfect. There are many failures. But in todays world, we are the ones striving most for goodness. We are the ones who do not use our power to wrongfully imprison, to destroy, or even to colonize and/or forcefully remove culture. We are the ones who more than any other nation on the face of the earth, stand up to aggressors, protect the downtrodden and weak, and present the case of the forgotten before the rest of the world.

We are America, we are far from good, and our greatness has resultantly slipped. But we strive for that goodness, and we stand against evil.

Congestion: Hell On Wheels - Part II

Drew Carey has some ideas on how to improve transportation. One of them includes naming a freeway after himself. How? Just buy it.

Reason.tv host Drew Carey examines the costs and consequences of traffic jams and explores several solutions that can get our roads moving. How does a speedy trip on the “Drew Carey Freeway” sound? Plus, one lucky commuter gets a helicopter ride to work, courtesy of Drew.

So if we go. Click here to watch

Along a similar veign… 

While roads and the highway system will never be completely privatized, what will become of gas tax receipts? The taxes were levied to pay for road maintenance and construction. Today, they are increasingly used to supplement non-transportation projects such as health care, welfare, etc.

When the burden of road maintenance and construction on public entities are reduced, are drivers going to apathetically acquiesce to the diversion of transportation dollars to non-transportation causes simply because gas taxes have always been charged?

Of course, it could be a non-issue because we might all have electric vehicles by that time. Not likely though.