Life is always worth it.
Please please please do not read this as an attack on anyone or anyone's belief(s)... I've been thinking about this lately, and I can't hold it in anymore...
"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. "
- Mother Teresa ... a somewhat religious perspective, but also one that anyone who loves can understand.
"It has been a constant surprise to me that other prolifers view me with distaste or distrust because of my atheism. I once attended a demonstration where my companion and I were watched suspiciously after we chose not to participate in a prayer session. "Why do you care?" both religious and non-religious people ask me. "Why should you feel that life is precious if you feel that life is meaningless and without divine purpose?" In all honesty, I can say that I have a completely rational explanation for this. I simply know that I am horrified by violence and I fail to see the long-term efficacy of violent means.
Possibly, the root of my reaction against abortion is one of self-interest and of self-identification. Aren't there many in this world who see me as less than human because I am a woman? Aren't there people who would deem me to be politically, socially, or ideologically "degenerate" and "undesirable" because of my atheism, bisexuality, desire not to be a mother, pacifism, or other personal characteristics? How can I demand my inclusion in humanity and yet deny humanity to another? What kind of gamble would I be taking if I allowed a dehumanizing custom to persist in my society without questioning it? If I tolerate the redefinition of what is human according to someone's desire for power and control, don't I make myself vulnerable to someone's determination that I am not worthy of the designation "human"?"
-From an selection titled "Feminist, Pro-Life, and Athiest"... while I obviously believe contrary to her Athiest beliefs, the fact that she can stand up for a human life is admirable.
Again... please please please this is not an attack. This is just me procrastinating writing an essay... and stating what I believe to be true.
One more
"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
-Mother Teresa again ♥
"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. "
- Mother Teresa ... a somewhat religious perspective, but also one that anyone who loves can understand.
"It has been a constant surprise to me that other prolifers view me with distaste or distrust because of my atheism. I once attended a demonstration where my companion and I were watched suspiciously after we chose not to participate in a prayer session. "Why do you care?" both religious and non-religious people ask me. "Why should you feel that life is precious if you feel that life is meaningless and without divine purpose?" In all honesty, I can say that I have a completely rational explanation for this. I simply know that I am horrified by violence and I fail to see the long-term efficacy of violent means.
Possibly, the root of my reaction against abortion is one of self-interest and of self-identification. Aren't there many in this world who see me as less than human because I am a woman? Aren't there people who would deem me to be politically, socially, or ideologically "degenerate" and "undesirable" because of my atheism, bisexuality, desire not to be a mother, pacifism, or other personal characteristics? How can I demand my inclusion in humanity and yet deny humanity to another? What kind of gamble would I be taking if I allowed a dehumanizing custom to persist in my society without questioning it? If I tolerate the redefinition of what is human according to someone's desire for power and control, don't I make myself vulnerable to someone's determination that I am not worthy of the designation "human"?"
-From an selection titled "Feminist, Pro-Life, and Athiest"... while I obviously believe contrary to her Athiest beliefs, the fact that she can stand up for a human life is admirable.
Again... please please please this is not an attack. This is just me procrastinating writing an essay... and stating what I believe to be true.
One more
"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
-Mother Teresa again ♥