So, you think that you are pro-choice?
What about a drug addicted, prostitute? A “mother” who no longer wants her child because
at her first check-up discovers that the baby she is carrying is a boy, and she
cannot sell that kid into the sex industry for what she had planned and now wants to abort. Still pro-choice?
What if you are against gay marriage? There is a couple, homosexual, who have been
together for more than 15 years, who want to adopt a couple of kids. The state where they live will not allow it
because they are not married. They are
not married because the state where they live won’t allow it. The kids?
They are the nephews of one of these people. If they do not adopt them into their very
stable, and loving home, then they will be bounced around the system, from
foster home to foster home, for the next 5-10 years until they age out, thinking
that no one cared about them (despite the fact that there was a loving family
that wanted them; but that wasn’t what “the state” determined as worthy).
These are just 2 examples of stories that are
floating around the internet right now.
They are both true (as far as my limited resources are able to determine),
and they are both tragic.
They are tragic because there are people who will argue for
that perfectly healthy baby boy to be aborted and for that loving couple to be
denied those needy kids because it is detrimental to “their cause” to say
otherwise.
Do I believe that “gay marriage” is wrong?
Spiritually? Yes. I am a Christian, I believe the Bible, and
the Bible calls it an abomination.
Socially? No. I have friends who do not share in my
Christian beliefs who, I have to say, are wonderful people. Some of their relationships are better
examples of I Corinthians 13 than some “Christian” marriages that I have
seen. I believe that God assigns the
same value to all sin. I have friends
who are liars, a few who are thieves, many who exhibit jealousy, one who has
been an adulterer at least 3 times, and yet they are not faced with the
condemnation that my homosexual friends face.
I look at these relationships and I struggle to find offense beyond my
faith. I acknowledge that I am inviting
much criticism here, but I am not speaking of members of my faith who have
chosen homosexuality (the two are not reconcilable) but I am speaking of those
outside of my faith. “We” do not protest
the marriage of 2 non-believers of opposite sex, and I question how a homosexual
union is any different – it is the union of 2 individuals who do not share in
our faith.
I am calling on you – all of you – to use your God-given
gray matter to say that there are no absolutes.
Until we tell those in the political and religious pulpits that each and
every case needs to be examined under the unique circumstances pertaining to
it, then the town criers among us are going to determine the rules. Right now, we are a nation divided by the town
criers, the race baiters, and the politicians.
I say that with a completely clear conscience, by the way,
because I used to be one of them. I used
to be the one who thought that all homosexuals were the guys in pink bouffant wigs
marching in a purple thong across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I thought that abortion in cases of rape and
incest was okay because it was better for the victim. I thought that all government regulations
protected all of the citizens, even if it trampled on a few individual’s rights.
I was naive.
Some might say that I was stupid.
I accept that responsibility, because I earned it. I earned it by being complacent in so many
things that were wrong or at least headed in the wrong direction.
I allowed myself to be swayed by the cherry-picked stories
of social media – I would never give an impressionable child to a guy in a
thong marching on Times Square (Honestly, I have come to learn that most people
like that do not want children) & I would never allow a drug-addicted whore
to use abortion as birth control (and most people like that never become
pregnant to begin with). That was
easy. It required no thought.
I didn’t have to utilize my gray matter to make that
choice.
And on the surface, these are easy concepts for anyone with
a religious background or well-rooted belief system. But the problem is that they are NOT ALL easy
decisions. I wish that they were. My life would be so much simpler if everyone
and everything in these situations were absolutes, but they are not.
Is it better for a child to be aborted, or to grow up feeling
completely unwanted and ignored in the “system”, or to be adopted by 2 people
who will love and nurture them into a productive member of society? Are these 2 men or 2 women somehow less
deserving than a heterosexual couple?
WHY? History has proven that
heterosexuality does not equate purity – we have witnessed examples of sex
trafficking, slavery, pornography and worse perpetuated by heterosexual
couples, so why is it that we believe that loving homosexual couples would be
any riskier? Would we be okay, as
Christians, if they were adopted by a heterosexual Jewish couple? A Muslim couple? How far away from our traditional faith must
they be before it isn’t okay?
What about abortion?
When does it cease being a choice and become a child? Ask an expectant mother who wants the life in
their belly when it becomes a child, and most (not all) will say that it as
soon as they find out about it’s existence.
But those who do not want it? It
is not a child until it is born and takes it’s first breath. Until then, it is nothing more than a
parasite to them. I struggle A LOT with
this as someone who has carried and given birth to four children of my
own. I cannot imagine ending a life
growing inside of me. Even in the face
of questions like “what if your 12 year old daughter were raped and became
pregnant?” could I condone abortion.
HOWEVER – At that point, I acknowledge that it is no longer my
choice. We are no longer talking about
me and my body and my life or my future.
IF (God forbid) I were faced with such a scenario, I would talk and pray
with my daughter. I would seek outside
counsel. I would let her know that
whatever she decided, I loved her and would support her, and I would ensure
that she knew that abortion was not her only option. I would hope that I had taught her the value
of life before this had happened and that she would see that something
wonderful could be produced from something horrific. But – IT WOULD STILL BE HER CHOICE.
Let me try to make it a bit clearer:
Is it okay to abort a baby, but not okay to decide where
that baby is born? (Mid-wifery/home-birth)
Is it okay to decide where that baby is born, but not okay
to have that baby vaccinated? (Anti-vaccination)
Is it okay to force that baby to be vaccinated, but not okay
to give it to a loving, homosexual couple to be raised? (Adoption/gay-marriage)
Should the government be allowed to determine, based upon
blanket assumptions, what food that child should eat? (Federal lunch program)
What subjects they should focus on and how? (Common Core)
Where and how they should live? (Homesteading/Survivalism)
Is it okay to have this wonderfully individualistic child be
defined by a few random standardized tests? Is it okay for the parents (whomever they may
be) to determine that the educational standards do not define, but rather
cripple, their child? Should they be
allowed to opt out? What if that skews the results for the other children? (Common
Core/Educational standards)
What if the child is ill?
Should some bureaucrat in Washington DC have prevue over a child’s
medical treatment? (Medical Marijuana/non-sanctioned FDA treatments/even Obamacare)
I have chosen a few of the most extreme examples that are
hot buttons in today’s media, but they are meant to act as catalysts. I want you to realize that there are no
absolutes in ANYTHING worth having an opinion of. To me, that symbolizes their triviality. These are the issues that distract us. If you think that the government should stay
out of situations regarding your doctor, your children, and your bedroom, then
I hate to break it to you, but you are a conservative.
NOT A REPUBLICAN – A CONSERVATIVE.
A conservative believes that there are certain areas that
the government should just stay the hell out of. A conservative believes in a small government
and a great deal of personal liberty. I
am NOT a republican, but I am a conservative.
I am proud of being a conservative.
I believe in my individual rights as an American, I believe in my city’s
rights, my state’s rights, and my country’s rights and I understand that they
may not always be in agreement, but that the rights of the individual should
prevail unless they are in DIRECT conflict with the other’s rights.
Do I think that you are wrong to choose to not vaccinate
your kids? Hell yes I do. I think that you are putting the rest of the
populace at risk. Did I still opt to separate
my kids’ vaccines into separate shots in order to minimize risks and identify
potential problems? You bet your ass I
did. Will I fight for your right to make
such choices? Yes. To an extent, but not absolutely. I feel the same way about home birth, medical
marijuana, gay marriage, gay adoption, and even gun rights, etc.
THERE IS NO BLACK AND WHITE.
Life is gray matter.
There are very few absolutes. Life requires that we use our gray matter –
our brains – and we’ve been handed a cafeteria plan on morality and expected to
accept it. Unfortunately, it isn’t that
easy. Life is too messy not to use our
God-given gray matter.
USE YOUR GRAY MATTER.
And for God’s sake, quit criticizing me for using mine.
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