For only the second occasion in as many months I find myself publicly endorsing Jorge Bergoglio...for, once again, his guts/gumption/courage in calling it as it really is... in very truth.
Yes, abortion is indeed the moral equivalent of a contract killing, and has veritably become the default setting for a morally lazy and irresponsible, God-forsaking, pleasure-indulged and self-obsessed, 'Me Only: First, Last and Always' Generation (or several); resorted to as an automatic reflex in order to cover over and somehow rationalize the endemic sexual permissiveness/licence cum moral irresponsibility of our thoroughgoing, decadent age...
The subject has been much in the news and in our faces over recent times, with renewed interest in reforming **the 1977 law in God's Own following the decisive victory for reformers in the recent Irish referendum; which itself preceded, of course, what will perhaps go down historically as the ***neo-cause celebre of our times - the extremely high-profile and moreover notoriously contentious confirmation hearings for recently-confirmed United States Supreme Court appointee Brett Kavanaugh.
After which Yours Truly, anyhow, determined to join local anti-abortionists in their ongoing quiet vigil of witness and protest against the continual and unsung murder of the unborn in our midst... . However, not managing to locate the local chapter of our present-day equivalent of SPUC (the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child), I did what in my mind was the next best thing, and read/studied up on the subject c/o a number of booklets I've accumulated over recent decades.
Not surprisingly my view has only solidified in my personal resolve against the age-old practice - now dressed up in modern garb as the panacea to every woman's worst nightmare and dilemma - as well it may seem or in some cases even be. Though, in the process, not without being continually brought face to face with and having constantly reinforced for me the numerous nooks and crannies of the debate, the nuances and complexities of the many and various arguments ever advanced upon one side or the other. And fraught the issue certainly is in every way.
Accordingly this will not be a simply rehash of the main arguments on either side. Suffice to say it will rather present my own deeply-ingrained convictions upon the matter; convictions which have made me determined to at least add my voice - however small and obscure - to those who protest what they/we consider the unwarranted termination of a *****fully 'viable' and worthwhile living person; preventing this nascent being sharing the opportunity of life otherwise simply taken for granted as the inalienable birthright and privilege of every human being born into this world.
*End (Sub)Title borrowed from the central refrain (and moral) of the screen adaptation (dvd version) of 'Dr Suess' HORTON HEARS A WHO!'
**Known as 'The Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act', it was passed by a conscience vote in the early Muldoon years - quite interestingly, with a large number of the then Labour Party opposition MPs voting against it (essentially because they wanted no liberalization in the previous regime whatsoever).
***Seeing as 'cause celebre' is ****literally 'a very notable or famous trial', I deliberately prefixed 'neo', as the Brett Kavanaugh American House and Senate judiciary committee hearings were obviously not a literal trial of Kavanaugh's relative guilt or innocence (vis-a-vis the plethora of charges levelled at him (and his character)); but were essentially so in everything but name, surely...
****See (as ever) my trusty 'ole Chambers Concise Dictionary (Cambridge, 1988).
*****Irrespective of whatever physical deformities such a child may well enter the world with.
To Be Continued (Part Two) Tomorrow
True to my word (Part Two-a): Why Abortion Is Essentially Wrong and Evil:
So what is my own abortion perspective based upon? Well, as a Bible-believing Christian - and the two sides to that description really need not be explicitly stated, the (complete) term is surely a *non-non sequitur - one cannot do better or more than refer(ring) to the Holy Scriptures for all his/her life doctrines; for that Holy Book itself declares that 'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the (wo)man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.'
*I.e. the description is inherently self-consistent: what else is a true Christian if not someone whose life is based upon the teachings of Holy Writ?!?!? And let's get something quite straight: Jesus Christ Himself - the One upon whose life and teachings and example the Christian's is supposed to be based - Himself implicitly (and often explicitly) referred to, embraced, and otherwise (effectively) championed the entire Older Testament - including those early chapters of Genesis so often in contention these days. Indeed He had no other Scriptures in his possession or that He followed.
Okay, let's get goin'...movin'...on... . Some would say (or claim) that the Good Book has little or even nothing to say on such controversial 'modern-day' matters as abortion...
Well, they are - dead - wrong...and are revealing their biblical illiteracy. To put it gently.
No matter, **'let God be [found] true but every [hu]man a liar', as the great apostle put things. How about these words from 'the sweet singer of Israel'? Yep, (King) David said it best...in the incomparable 139th Psalm:
For You have formed my
inward parts;
You have covered[woven] me in my
mother's womb.
I will praise You, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully
made.
Marvellous are Your works,
and that my soul knows full
well.
My frame was[bones were] not hidden
from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance,
being yet unformed,
And in Your book they were all
written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none
of them. (Psalm 139: 13-16: ***NKJV.)
**Romans 3:4 in the New King James Version. (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
***Ibid.
Or how about the following poignant, pointed words from the aged patriarch Job?
Your hands have made me
and fashioned me,
An intricate unity...
Remember...that You
have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust
again?
Did You not pour me out like
milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with
bones and sinews?
You have granted me life...
(Job 10: 8-12: ****NKJV.)
****Ibid.
And folks, those scriptures are just for starters! Or, as one (modern-day) wag rather more succinctly expressed it: God made me...and He makes no junk!
To Be Continued (Part Two-b)...
At Long Last (though actually, only 11 days later - even if it feels much more)...
'In conclusion', but possibly the real gist of my blogpost...
Many aspects and 'angles' of this majorly-fraught, ever-so-contentious subject have been extensively canvassed in the media and the public domain at large, and will of course continue to be debated for years, even decades to come...if time lasts so long, and it probably won't...
Like, when does (human) life actually begin (which is arguably the most pivotal point of all)? And doesn't a(ny) woman have the innate, inalienable - as it were God-given, contradiction that that is, if ever there was one - right 'to do with her own body what(ever) she will?
On the latter question, she most definitely does - that is, if we're talking in the abstract, as if she was the only one involved in such a major, critical decision... -only in this particular instance, she ain't! You see, here we're discussing the equal right/s...simply to life...of an innocent third party...who moreover has never been asked his/her own view on the matter (e.g. whether s/he wishes to live on/be born into this world). And that, as another well-known comment expresses it, is all that matters...it really is... Yes, that little fact makes all the difference (in the world).
Incidentally, as someone has crudely put it, 'it takes two to tango''tangle/intertwine - and thus create a new life (with God's ever-present assistance, mind you)...and so - and I'm just askin', you understand...how come the rights (surely) of the (relevant) daddy - presuming he's still contactable, of course, and that's oftentimes a huge if - are never considered/canvassed etc...obviously also provided he isn't guilty of rape or incest etc...? Again, just askin', you understand.
Hey, but what would I know, I'm just a guy, not to mention a 'pale, stale, male', after all...? What rights would, or perhaps rather should, I even have? That does indeed seem to be where 'we', i.e. Western society generally, has now come to/arrived at...
...yet I would continue to respectfully contend, that a person's a person, yes, no matter how small!
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