JULIE---I applaud you. I too got hammered very hard on
any McVeigh Thread I commented on. Oh BTW I'm a guy
so no male bashing O.K. It seems funny to me in this land
where we go around telling other countries what is humane
and what is not. The highest court in the land condone's
the death penalty and abortion.Well must go the people on
this broad do not like my views and berate my spelling in
them. Odd thing about that there are many people here who
miss-type-spell-and make more errors than I do, these
people are not made fun of. I guess they must stand for at
least one of our high courts killing ways, while I stand for neither.
Are you a hypocrite?
by Julie 13 Replies latest jw friends
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crossroads
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JanH
Bedrr,
Julie, it is equally hypocritical to say abortion is acceptable but the death penalty is not.
False.When fundamentalists use this "argument", they mix up their own perception of reality with their opponents. It is simply a logical short-circuit, and it is appaling to see this non-argument used so often by fundamentalists.
Those who are pro-choice simply do not agree that a first trimester fetus is a human being. To say that the fetus is "innocent" is as absurd as saying the same thing about a tumor, and it is factually wrong to call this lump of cells a "baby". This is a distortion that only serves to score emotional points instead of dealing with the issues.
Those who believe in the absolute sanctity of human life will have to be opponents of capital punishment, and they will -- to be consistent -- also have to be pacifists. They do not, however, have to be opponents of abortion rights, since a first trimester fetus falls outside the definition they may use for "human life".
All those who are not absolute pacifists will agree that there are situations where one can justify the taking of a human life. The difference is what people will consider an adequate reason for the taking of human life.
Some, but reasonably few, opponents of the death penalty falls into the pacifist category.
Most who opposte the death penalty do so because they argue it does not deter crime; it is an expression of the mindset that leads to violent crime in the first place; and most importantly: given the errancy of the judicial system any country with capital punishment will invariably sooner or later kill an innocent person, and this is a state crime that can never be rectified.
- Jan
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Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911] -
Bendrr
Thanks for the thoughts, Jan. At first I was a little angry, then I re-read a few times.
First of all, I am no fundamentalist. Second of all, there are no absolute pacifists.
I disagree with the concept of a first or any trimester embryo/fetus/whatever medical term baby as a lump of cells. A wart is a lump of cells. A scar is a lump of cells. A tumor is a lump of cells. An unborn child at any stage is a human life. A lump of cells the way you put it is a suprise. "Gosh, I've got an embryo inside me, Doctor, How the heck could that have happened?"
I'm not trying to put any kind of emotional spin on it, just telling how I feel in response to the thread's question. There is sanctity of human life, but the Bible as well as the last several thousand years of man's law has firmly established the death penalty as the ultimate price to pay. True, there may be cases of innocent men going to the chair. Personally I think the liberal press has played this card heavily to influence us against the death penalty.
In my opinion, the only reason the death penalty or any other "severe" penalty is less of a deterrent is because of such slack and slow enforcement. Life sentences don't mean life these days. And a death sentence may take 20 years. So where is the threat?
Bottom line is, I wish there were no abortion but it happens. I just hope that mankind moves on to a point where it becomes an obscure rarely-performed procedure because we find some alternatives including better more convenient birth control and adoption.
As far as the death penalty, I don't want to hear about executions on the news every week. But no one made McVeigh kill 168 people and he had to pay. (Just using him as an example)
Bottom line is, we have a long way to go. -
Prisca
I disagree that an embryo is "just a lump of cells". As opposed to a lump of cells making up a wart, a tumour or a pimple, an embryo has the blueprint for becoming a human. A person capable of thinking, feeling, creating.
Having said that, I am not completely against abortion, in certain circumstances. eg if a woman was raped, or the foetus was badly handicapped. It is a decision the woman would have to make, and live with for the rest of her life.
And as opposed to a serial killer, a molester who raped dozens of kids, or a terrorist who plots to kill innocent people, an embryo is innocent. The unborn baby did not choose to be made - its life was based on a decision made by one or both of its parents.
I support capital punishment for those who have committed atrocious crimes, as long as their guilt is without question. Although we no longer are under the Mosaic Law, it seems ironic that we should harbour convicted criminals while their victims' families suffer for the rest of their lives.