i am anti (pro)-life!
This week, our beautiful city was invaded by hatred.
There was a pro-life convention, starting on Thursday, that was to be held at the St-Joseph oratory, bringing hundreds of pro-lifers in town.
The oratory cancelled at the last minute, claiming they could not ensure that the participants were safe from harm, so the convention had to relocate to an undisclosed location. I was at first glad the oratory pulled out, but at the same time i knew it was only out of fear that the protesters would damage the property in some way or another, or inflict bodily harm to the world saviors congregating there. Because, as a Christian institution, they agree with the ideas promoted by the convention.
What is the matter with them? They live in a totally different world than the rest of us. Quebec was under the iron hand of the Catholic church for so long, it was only in the late 60s that we finally got rid of those hands around our necks. If it is true that it is partly because the church that we still speak french is this part of the world- through having anywhere between 5 and 10 children per family- the church did a lot of damage to Quebec society. "Empecher la famille"- to not have children- was seen as a sin basically by the church, so most families lived well under the poverty line, i mean, lived with basically nothing- no food, a crumbling roof, very little heat, no education... And then there are all those children who went through hell in orphanages, getting molested and raped by priests. The quiet revolution somewhat put an end to this madness, but nowadays conservative values are popular again, not only with old frustrated white men, also within the youth. What a scary phenomenon... Kids fighting to bring back the oppressive ideas that kept us in the dark for so long. Fighting for ideas that will bring us back fifty, a hundred years into the past. The pope once said that condoms dont work. What, did he try it? I dont think he could have gotten as far as unrolling it properly. "What, you have to unroll this thing?"... The religious right claims that abstinence is the best form of contraception. They claim that abortion kills a soul. They claim that marriage is the union of man and woman. They are so wrong. The best form of contraception is unbiased information about safe sex practices. Because kids will experiment no matter what. So why not give them the proper tools to make responsible choices? Abortion is freedom to dispose of one's body (namely the woman's) the way they see fit. Dont you think there are enough unhappy, underfed, unwanted children in the world? And unhappy women? And what is marriage but the union of two individuals who love each other? I dont personally believe that you must be married to prove your love to your partner(s). But if two people decide they want to get married, their decision is legitimate wether they are two males, two females or a man and a woman.
What is the matter with the religious right is that they want to live in the past, in a primitive era when information was limited and where prejuduce ruled. They want their hateful ways to rule the world once more and we cant let this happen. They came to Montreal this week, the most liberal city in Canada. I dont want them in my city. I dont want them to ruin our sisters and brothers lives. They infect our world with homophobia and misoginy. Its easy to point the finger at muslim fundamentalists by saying how horrible they are, but we need to take a closer look at our society and our own fundamentalists. The damage they do to our community and to just about everyone who is not in agreement with their views is devastating, but less visible since we live it everyday. But they are a threat to freedom of mind and choice. If we dont realize the impact they can have on our lives, we may one day find ourselves back to the dark ages.They want a nation of dumb, uninformed, passive zombies. I dont. After yesterday's protest, i hope they know they are persona non grata in Montreal. I am pro-choice, yes, but i am also very much anti- (pro)life.
I am a sinner and proud of it.
That was my rant.
There was a pro-life convention, starting on Thursday, that was to be held at the St-Joseph oratory, bringing hundreds of pro-lifers in town.
The oratory cancelled at the last minute, claiming they could not ensure that the participants were safe from harm, so the convention had to relocate to an undisclosed location. I was at first glad the oratory pulled out, but at the same time i knew it was only out of fear that the protesters would damage the property in some way or another, or inflict bodily harm to the world saviors congregating there. Because, as a Christian institution, they agree with the ideas promoted by the convention.
What is the matter with them? They live in a totally different world than the rest of us. Quebec was under the iron hand of the Catholic church for so long, it was only in the late 60s that we finally got rid of those hands around our necks. If it is true that it is partly because the church that we still speak french is this part of the world- through having anywhere between 5 and 10 children per family- the church did a lot of damage to Quebec society. "Empecher la famille"- to not have children- was seen as a sin basically by the church, so most families lived well under the poverty line, i mean, lived with basically nothing- no food, a crumbling roof, very little heat, no education... And then there are all those children who went through hell in orphanages, getting molested and raped by priests. The quiet revolution somewhat put an end to this madness, but nowadays conservative values are popular again, not only with old frustrated white men, also within the youth. What a scary phenomenon... Kids fighting to bring back the oppressive ideas that kept us in the dark for so long. Fighting for ideas that will bring us back fifty, a hundred years into the past. The pope once said that condoms dont work. What, did he try it? I dont think he could have gotten as far as unrolling it properly. "What, you have to unroll this thing?"... The religious right claims that abstinence is the best form of contraception. They claim that abortion kills a soul. They claim that marriage is the union of man and woman. They are so wrong. The best form of contraception is unbiased information about safe sex practices. Because kids will experiment no matter what. So why not give them the proper tools to make responsible choices? Abortion is freedom to dispose of one's body (namely the woman's) the way they see fit. Dont you think there are enough unhappy, underfed, unwanted children in the world? And unhappy women? And what is marriage but the union of two individuals who love each other? I dont personally believe that you must be married to prove your love to your partner(s). But if two people decide they want to get married, their decision is legitimate wether they are two males, two females or a man and a woman.
What is the matter with the religious right is that they want to live in the past, in a primitive era when information was limited and where prejuduce ruled. They want their hateful ways to rule the world once more and we cant let this happen. They came to Montreal this week, the most liberal city in Canada. I dont want them in my city. I dont want them to ruin our sisters and brothers lives. They infect our world with homophobia and misoginy. Its easy to point the finger at muslim fundamentalists by saying how horrible they are, but we need to take a closer look at our society and our own fundamentalists. The damage they do to our community and to just about everyone who is not in agreement with their views is devastating, but less visible since we live it everyday. But they are a threat to freedom of mind and choice. If we dont realize the impact they can have on our lives, we may one day find ourselves back to the dark ages.They want a nation of dumb, uninformed, passive zombies. I dont. After yesterday's protest, i hope they know they are persona non grata in Montreal. I am pro-choice, yes, but i am also very much anti- (pro)life.
I am a sinner and proud of it.
That was my rant.