Contradictions Of “Life”

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, education, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, guns, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Just a few of my rambling thoughts on this Saturday night/Sunday morn.  America doesn’t need to be made “Great” again, it just needs to be made “okay” again.  Right now, it is not okay.  America is a study in contradictions.  Setting aside the political contradictions for another day, the societal contradictions are tearing the nation apart.  Taking a look at just one of those contradictions … life.

I find it interesting that the anti-abortionists call themselves “pro-life” when they really are not.  They are quite simply just against abortion and against the rights of women to make their own life’s choices.  IF they were truly ‘pro-life’ they would also support measures to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry at night … in fact, that no person goes to bed hungry.  They would be advocating for help to feed the poor and provide housing for the homeless, they would be staunch supporters of such things as the Affordable Care Act, food and housing assistance for those in need, and more.  But as a whole, the anti-abortionists support none of those things that would help preserve human life.  Next time someone tells you they are against abortion, ask them how much money they have donated to humanitarian relief, to organizations that help people climb out of poverty.

Along the same lines, it is a curiosity to me that we support medical science and their efforts to increase human longevity, and yet we speak of ending Social Security and Medicare, a move that would decrease human longevity drastically, or at the very least make those ‘extra’ years ones of poverty and struggle.  Think about it … governments and foundations spend billions of dollars every year for medical research to find cures for the illnesses that kill people, such as cancer, stroke, heart failure and more.  So, in 1950 in the U.S., the average life expectancy was 68.14 years, and today it is 79.11 years … thanks to medical science, we have gained approximately 11 years of life.  But … how will we spend those 11 years?  Will we spend them being hungry or homeless, begging on the streets for scraps of food?  WHY bother to help people live longer if we are not willing to help them live better?  I’ve long said that quality of life matters far more to me than quantity, and I firmly believe that.

And speaking of quality of life … life is not simply the act of being born.  Being born is a minute or two, but it’s what comes after that is defined as life.  So, if people are so determined to force women to give birth to babies, then why aren’t those same people working to ensure that when those babies are grown in twenty years or so, they will have potable water to drink, sufficient healthy food to eat, and fresh air to breathe?  Climate change deniers tend to also be those who claim they are “pro-life” when speaking of a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.  They claim that there is a higher power looking after the planet’s environment, and therefore they can go on driving their gas-guzzlers, flying on jets, eating beef every night, keeping their heat or air-conditioning running day and night, with little or no regard for the environment.  Well, I don’t know anything about a higher power, but I DO know a little bit about climate science, and at the current rate, those babies people want born today won’t meet that 79.11 year life expectancy, for they will slowly die from lack of food & water, from lack of breathable air, and from diseases caused by those lacks.

And lastly … if those who claim to be “pro-life” truly believe that every life is important, then why are they also “pro-gun”?  The leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States is guns.  The pro-life crowd would criminalize abortion, but fight against any form of gun regulations.  So … force the woman to give birth to her baby just so she can watch him be gunned down seven, eight, or twenty years later?  If they actually give a damn about life, they would be staunch advocates for strict gun laws.  Are they?  No.  Another school shooting?  “Awww … too bad … thoughts and prayers …”  The sole purpose of a gun is to end life … isn’t this a direct contradiction to being “pro-life”?

Just a few things to think about next time someone steps up on his soapbox to talk about their “pro-life” stance.  LIFE is more than simply being born.

56 thoughts on “Contradictions Of “Life””

  6. Pingback: Contradictions Of “Life” — Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  8. Jill, the state of Colorado did a study that revealed if you want fewer abortions, increase access to and education about birth control. The study also reveals health care systems save money as well.

    From my work with homeless working families, I can assert firsthand another study that reveals a causal relationship between increased family size and poverty. I remain a firm believer in teaching holistic sex education and making available the tools to manage one’s family size. Because as sure as I type this, people are going to have sex because they like it.

    The other point I want to add is people will find a way to circumvent overly restrictive laws. If the morning after pill is banned by judges, then people will get from outside our borders. Take that to the bank. It will be akin to circumventing prohibition.

    Keith

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    • That study in Colorado is exactly right … it’s just common sense! But instead, the same people who would block a woman’s access to abortion is now also trying to block her from access to birth control, too! Now tell me this isn’t about relegating women to second-class status! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

      I agree with you … teaching the facts, acknowledging that hormones are raging in teenage bodies and abstinence is NOT gonna happen, and providing safe alternatives is the much better way.

      You’re right … people will find a way. My big fear is that women will once again find it necessary to resort to back-alley abortionists, or worse yet, clothes hangers, and the death toll will be on the heads of those who tried to tell us how to manage our own bodies, our own health, our own lives. Prohibition is an excellent analogy … just look how well that worked out!

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  9. Thank you for sharing!!… life is about change, especially as we gather more knowledge, every generation faces it… there are elements of today’s world societies that are closed minded and will deny any change they think is a threat to their version of reality, especially with religious ideologies.. in the past one could escape reality (like Daniel Boone) but with today’s technology there is no place to hide, so now there are conflicts of one kind or the other, especially social and religion… 🙂
    It may not happen overnight but with today’s technology and a open mind and patience we can, and will, make this world a better place… 🙂

    Hope all is well in your part of the universe and until we meet again.
    May love and laughter light your days,
    and warm your heart and home.
    May good and faithful friends be yours,
    wherever you may roam.
    May peace and plenty bless your world
    with joy that long endures.
    May all life’s passing seasons
    bring the best to you and yours!
    (Irish Saying)

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    • You are right in all you say, my friend. The problem is, though, that far too many people do not possess that open mind nor patience. They want the world to remain as it was 100-200 years ago, and they are willing to impose their will on us all to whatever extent they are able. I fear my hope for progress in humanity is dimming these days. But thank you for the lovely Irish Saying that brought a smile!

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  10. These anti-abortionists are anti-abortion, because of how they feel that the abortions are murdering the lives of unborn babies, without considering how as these would’ve-been-aborted fetuses get carried full-term, their mothers are unready, unable, and unwilling to care for them, and it’ll end up burdening the systems, and, cause the taxpayers more money to care for these unwanted pregnancies, and so, they’re saying no to abortion for the sake of saying NO to it, without any, verifiable, justifiable, cause, and this will in turn, cause America to go into, even deeper, debts, like the U.S. isn’t already up to its head in national debts already…

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    • You’ve hit the nail on the head. They don’t care at all whether that child grows up in abject poverty and ultimately commits suicide at the age of 16. As long as the mother was forced to give birth, was “put in her place” and shown that it’s a man’s world, that her views will always be secondary. I think all women should start saying “No” to sex … cut the man off, then maybe he’ll think twice. Or, make sterilization mandatory for males at the age of 14!

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  11. Well said, reasoned and argued Jill.
    The only answer they would have would be an inflexible tirade of clichés and contradictions. These folk who talk about their liberties and throw in the word ‘Socialism’. And yet they are willing to impose their own ‘socialism’ without a second thought.
    Not that things are much different amongst those on some sections of The Left.
    Neither side have clean hands having dipped them constantly in Hypocrisy.
    The true path to ‘greatness’, ie progress is in the messy, annoying middle ground where we muddle and swerve along in Compromise and saying ‘Heck. That could have gone better. Let’s try again’

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    • Thanks, Roger! Yes, exactly … they fear socialism whereby they might have to actually spend a quid or two to help someone else have a bite to eat or a warm place to spend the night. And they call themselves “Christians”. Grrrrrrrrr. I find that many religionists are steeped in hypocrisy, which is one of the things that turned me off of religion at a very early age. Not you, not Keith, not any of my friends here, but some that I’ve known.

      I think that, at least here in the U.S., they have buried the middle ground, have moved the stakes on both sides right up against each other such that there can be no compromise. Until … a catastrophe happens. And it will. Sigh.

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  12. These days it isn’t being born when lIfe begins, but from the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg that they want us to believe life starts. I have had so many people on Word Press tell me to not use the word fetus that I think I could fill a fiction novel with characters using just the names/handles of the people who have told me that! I keep on telling them people all over the world celebrate birth days, not fertilization days, but they refuse to budge. Who the hell wants to know the date daddy’s sperm fertilized mommy’s egg! Yuck! More than half the time the mother doesn’t know it. The father never does, unless the couple only has sex once a year. We don’t want to know that either!
    But these days people are emphasizing what divides people rather than what brings us together. And we have Evangelicals and Republicans to thank for that.

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