I, for one, am glad/relieved this years election is past/done/gone. I can't say I look forward to 2012. Robocalls kept the phone ringing off the hook until the polls "closed" last Tuesday, even tho we vote with 'mail in ballets' in this area.
We, the Farm Boy & I, voted early. The college kids, (who still use our home address) were a different story. Unfortunately by the time the ballots were forwarded to them and got back to the county auditor we apparently remained on the list of those who hadn't voted yet and thus were deserving of encouraging calls reminding us to do our duty.
Arrggghhh - MAKE IT STOP!
Now there is an uncharitable type of GLEE from some conservatives for their candidates who have unseated liberals. While I'm quite conservative, I find myself wishing they'd quit doing their end zone celebration as I'm not expecting miracles from anyone, or any particular party. Resolving the nations economic and moral woes is not going to be a short term project. Finding compromises that everyone can live with will be difficult...Those who fail will be subjected to Will Rogers truth that: the ones who are out will always look the best. If the new congress does not succeed in righting the ship the pendulum will swing and the next crop of politicians will scramble madly to appease the American public.
And the cold, hard fact is: there just ain't no pleasing some people.
That said, I want to talk about one of my facebook friends. He is one of Farm Boys co-workers. He is a nice man. An educated man. A talented man.
What's not to like?
He's also extremely liberal. Usually not in an "in your face" kind of way but one does pick up the patronizing attitude that smacks of "if you were a little more intelligent you'd see things my way." And yes, indeed, that 'intelligent' word appears just often enough in his posts...
Anyway.
Because I'm aware of my limited ability to 'control' or influence someone else's opinion or accountability I will never be counted as a rabid 'pro-lifer'. Not because I have any vestige of doubt that a child is a living entity from the moment of conception...if the fertilized cells are capable of dividing and growing, ummm, let me check the definition, yup! "It's" living.
Ah, but not viable some say. Can't survive outside the womb. Ergo, a "non-person."
Ah, but not viable some say. Can't survive outside the womb. Ergo, a "non-person."
Really?
A newborn kitten, eyes sealed shut, wet & scruffy, can drag itself to its mothers teats, nurse and grow.
A newborn human, eyes open and squalling, can not do the same. It is unable to move itself to its mother's side, latch on and nurse and sustain itself unless lifted, guided & held to its mother's breast.
Hmm, outside the womb and still can't survive without help. I'm soooo not a fan of that 'viablity' thing.
Anyway, back to facebook.
This election season some pictures have surfaced from the pro-life camp in an effort to help persuade one to the selection of anti-abortion candidates. Some provide food for thought:
Others are graphic and will.break.your.heart. I'll not post these but they may be found here: http://www.priestsforlife.org/resources/abortionimages/index.htm
Again, these are GRAPHIC, be cautious about following this link.)
Back to our liberal friend. He has a son who is recently married. The new daughter-in-law and family appear to be conservative Catholics. One of her brother-in-laws, Andrew Ellis, has posted the above pictures.
Mr. Liberal can't help himself and has to comment. Tells them he doesn't agree but hopes 'they' can respect his opinion as well.
Another family member (apparently knowing Andrew) quickly chimes in to mediate, asking for respect for all opinions...
A switch was flipped. A young man who has the courage of his convictions takes a stand. Rage overwhelms political correctness and 'respect'. Following is Andrew Ellis' reply:
"To the general audience: So a woman in Iran is about to be brutally stoned to death because her husband's brother raped her and that makes her an adulteress. Am I supposed to stand by and say, "Well, these men are entitled to their opinion. ...I have a different view, but this isn't my business or my place to judge."
Sorry people. They are NOT "entitled" to that opinion. They sure as HELL aren't entitled to ACT on it. And don't ANYONE tell me it's unchristian or uncharitable of me to be incensed with rage and put up an unholy stink. To stand by in silence, or to turn away and pretend it's not happening, or to tell yourself it's not your business and take the easy way out of the situation - THAT is the unchristian and uncharitable thing.
Is ANYONE going to take a good hard look at some of those abhorrent images of dismembered human children and honestly tell me that mother, or that doctor, was "entitled to their opinion?" Go back a hundred years or so. Majority opinion held a consensus that black people weren't whole persons. Who is going to tell me that was just fine and dandy? That they were entitled to those opinions? That while you are "personally opposed" to it, it's not your place to say YOU'RE DEAD WRONG - and say it loudly, and publicly.
Who is going to tell me that if I were a German farmer, or banker, or student, that the young men and women of the Nazis were entitled to their opinions? Or that I would have been mean and unchristian and uncharitable to seek out the graphic evidence of what was going on, (note: he's speaking of concentration camps, Hitler's atrocities) publish it far and wide, and publicly descry it as the unholy travesty that it was? Or that I really ought to pipe down and learn to respect these people and their heinously misguided "opinions." As if it's not hard enough just to respect the life of the soldier executing a Jewish child.
In the name of sanity and reason, people, am I entitled to the opinion that any one of you, or a class of you, with eyes too far apart or missing an appendix or loosing your marbles due to old age - am I entitled to the opinion that you're just not enough of a person to matter anymore, or that you ever did, and that if I felt it would better suit my well-being or my child's well-being that you were terminated, that I ought to be able to just go ahead and pull your limbs off one by one? If you're going to reduce this down to a matter of opinion, THAT IS WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
If you're going to tell me it's a matter of opinion whether or not an unborn child is a baby, that is what you're saying. Your damned opinions have no bearing whatsoever on whether a person is a person. And I have to say, it is utterly beyond my comprehension how any sane person can witness with their own two seeing eyes WHAT ABORTION IS and STILL DEFEND IT. That is not an opinion I respect, or ever will respect. No one is entitled to it any more than a man is entitled to the opinion that some attractive woman over there can be pinned down and violently raped. How much more obvious does it have to be?
LOOK AT THE DAMN PICTURES. People are constantly ripping on Catholic bishops in Germany for doing little or nothing for the Jewish people during the holocaust. Inaccurate though that is, do you think anyone in Germany believed what was happening before the photos started popping up? The rest of the world sat idle because they could not believe it was true - UNTIL THE IMAGES STARTED FLOWING.
Genocide after genocide in Africa has gotten little tidbit headlines and no one cares or becomes enraged until the photos and the videos come out FORCING PEOPLE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE HUMANITY OF THE VICTIMS, THE INHUMANITY OF THE OPPRESSORS, AND THE REALITY OF WHAT PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING TO THEIR FELLOW MAN. And you wanna know what else is VERY interesting? The men and women in Africa who butchered men, women, and children from other tribes have been interviewed - how did you come to be capable of this? And a consistent theme is that they are convinced by their leaders and other members of their group that THE OTHER SIDE AREN'T REALLY PEOPLE. They cease to recognize the humanity in the other group.
Isn't that interesting? Doesn't that sound strikingly similar to Nazi Germany. And strikingly similar to our own treatment of abortion? Excuse me for being frustrated. Excuse me for being angry. Excuse me for not letting this go. What does it take to help a person acknowledge the perfectly obvious?
What in God's name makes it so damnably difficult to simply look at a child, acknowledge that child, and acknowledge that it is an atrocity to kill that child?
What exactly does one stand to lose by being honest with oneself? What the hell is it? And whatever it is, is it worth sanctioning and defending the brutal murder of 53 million American children and 43% of the world population? Is it worth ripping the arms and legs off of ONE innocent little child?
Is your pride worth that? Is your esteem for "opinion" worth that? Is your political persuasion worth that? Is your job, or your house, or your car, worth that?
What in God's name is in a person's head, that they will not let go of, that induces them to persist in feeble attempts to justify the murder of innocent children, or to justify sanctioning it and protecting it, or to deny the humanity of another person and stand by idly while they are butchered?"
He finishes with:
"No one need comment on this. Go to the album Imagery as Political Commentary. Look at the photos. And you can do one of two things: be enraged and compelled to act, or lie to yourself. If you don't look at the photos, you're already lying to yourself.
I make no apologies for publishing these photos. I do not, and will not, respect an opinion that diminishes or denies the humanity and the dignity of my fellow man."
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