Sunday, June 29, 2003
Went to a lovely mass this morning. They had a great choir singing and a large organ and sang a 
lot of Latin. It was a nice mass. I was thinking the whole time about yesterday and what causes conflicts like that. Really, what seem to be behind it are politicians using different religions to gain power through fighting. It seems that a lot of the strife in the world is caused by this. A person wants some power, so he gets a group of people that have something different about them, usually religion, then tells them they can live better if they fight those that are different. I guess the
I think the hardest part of getting into politics, if 
that is what I am going to do, is to, not religion in that way, but not abandon what I believe. I will never be elected on a Catholic platform, that is a given, but how do I balance the two when I am never suppose to let anything get in the way of my religion. Can I try and balance and be honest with myself or am I doomed to fail at this journey. It makes me think that I am not suppose to head in that direction, but I know that is just lazy Matt telling me it will be to hard. Nothing worth having is easy.
Went to the Guinness Storehouse today. I never imagined what it actually takes to make a barrel. They had old film of a professional barrel, cog, maker and it looked like it was an all day project for one barrel. We got to go up in the Gravity bar. You see the whole city from up there. 
It was neat. And I had to deal with some high spots and managed pretty well.
June 29, 2007
My way of thinking, I believe, is starting to change, maybe, a little. For some reason or another, religion has become a huge part of politics. I don't remember it being that way with Bush Sr, or Clinton. Being a Democrat and Catholic and a Law Student, I have really struggled with some of the big issues that people talk about all the time. I still believe abortion is awful, which I always have, but I have always struggled with the right to choose and forcing my belief on others. I have never agreed that it is such a simple answer as pro life or pro death, as I have heard it referred.
I still don't think the problem would be solved by banning abortion completely. I think a grassroots strategy, much like ads against tobacco, would work better, take longer, yes, but with better results. You can't stop people from getting an abortion. Either they will go somewhere else or they will hurt themselves or they will go to some shadowy alley doctor. Some might say if that is what happens, so be it, they deserve the consequences of those choices. That doesn't sound very Christian to me.
People have to not want to have an abortion. That may not sound right because I don't think anybody goes through life thinking they want an abortion. A better way, people have to see it as not an option, not because its against the law, but because it is horrible. We are trying to stop smoking without making it illegal, why hasn't somebody tried to use their roadmap for abortion. Why is it an all or nothing thing. Americans like to be eased into or out of something. Never force an American to do anything, even if it is good for them, because they will hate it. Prohibition doesn't work. You have to slowly wean Americans, cold turkey is a bad strategy.
But now that I have that tangent, religion being in politics. I really hope that the religious groups did not waste all their credibility backing Bush and whatever he blindly led them into. I also hope that they will not blindly follow any Republican based on party alone. I am religious and a Democrat, and I don't feel bad about it. I worry about what direction this country is headed and I find it hard to blame liberals when they have been in control half a year. The religious right led Republicans were in charge for 6 years. Where were they leading us. I think any religious person blindly following the Republicans based on the fact that they are Republicans should take a long and honest look back and try to honestly answer that question.
MILK
posted by MILK @ 9:45 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
M. K.,
I agree that one of the primary reasons behind abortion used to be, and often still is, lack of education. Ever since Roe v. Wade people have been fed the lie that unborn children are no more than "masses of tissue". Now medical technology has caught up to politics; even humanists agree that an unborn child is a human life (however, can be terminated bacause a being's "personhood" depends upon how other adults value it--see my post on the topic).
However, I strongly disagree that the elimination of abortion should be in anyway gradual. I understand that the rationale behind this strategy is to avoid a backlash; but that's utilitarian thinking and forgets the inestimable value of one human life. I liken the situation to twenty innocent men being on death row by popular demand, one scheduled to be executed each year. Some might say that we should change people's hearts so that they gradually come to reject the death penaly for the innocent; very well. If it takes fifteen years, fifteen innocent men are dead.
So backlash be damned. If saving thousands of innocent lives means that some women, through their own fault, hurt themselves; if it means huge protests and screaming feminists; if it means rioting in the streets--even our streets--well, that's a price we must be willing to pay.We must stop devouring our young.
In Christ,
JR
For thirty years we've been working through grassroots efforts.
The grassroots bit with tobacco is quite a different animal for one simple reason: the mainstream media.
The media is very much anti-smoking and very much pro-abortion.
Like it or not, the media does influence people's way of thinking and their outlook on life, quite often detrimentally.
Consider the various hours each week the media has access to people's minds. It doesn't matter whether people are actively listening or not, the message still sinks in. Don't believe me? Mute the commercials during your favorite show and notice the product being sold and the message portrayed. Then take a little glance at the U.S. culture and note the similarities...
People are willing to allow the priest to speak to them for all of ten minutes - and that at most! The difference is stark.
At the same time, the smoking ban grassroots efforts quickly became quite political, with many local communities banning smoking entirely in public places, and many states considering following the same.
If the media would change their tune - which is very unlikely - or if people would wake up out of their slumber to the effects of the media - which seems even more unlikely - much progress could quickly be made in regards to abortion.
I am still amazed at the overwhelming number of people who have no idea about the reality of "partial birth" abortion. Once I explain it them the most common reaction is, "That's barbaric!" Indeed it is, but the media fails to mention it, preferring instead to sugar coat and speak about freedom and rights and blah, blah, blah.
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