[Vision2020] Re: Parasite?

[Joan Opyr]

On 13 Mar 2006, at 13:13, Carl Westberg wrote:

> Donovan asks:  "I am curious, are you saying that the value of life is 
> determined by its size?"  Well, would you rather be Mickey Rooney or 
> Chuck Norris?                                                          
>                                                                        
>                                                                        
>                                                                        
>     Carl Westberg Jr.
>

Neither.  I want to be Steve McQueen.  But everybody knows that.  
(Where's my 1968 Mustang Fastback?  Where's my Triumph Bonneville?  I 
ask you.)

Chasuk's point, I believe, was that he cannot assign the terms 
"innocent" or "human" to a collection of cells the size of a pinhead.  
I have no idea (and neither does Donovan) how Chasuk defines the "value 
of life."  I have no idea how Chasuk defines life, period.  We human 
beings are a massive collection of living cells, a few hundred thousand 
of which "die" everyday.  (Or is it millions?  Biology 101 was a long 
time ago.)  That said, though I am pro-choice, I am neither sanguine 
nor dismissive when it comes to moral qualms about abortion.  In my own 
experience, the desire to carry a pregnancy to term is overwhelming, 
even when that pregnancy is dangerous, unwise, harmful, or devastating. 
  I've known many women facing an unwanted pregnancy and the unwanted 
choice of whether or not to terminate.  None of them danced down to the 
clinic or had an "I'm so relieved" party afterward.

And, while I'm on the subject, let me just go ahead and stick my big 
sexist foot into this debate: until men become pregnant and face the 
physical risks and emotional turmoil themselves, I'm not all that 
interested in what they have to say on the subject.  You want to hear 
me rant about vasectomies?  About killing (or trapping) innocent 
spermatozoa who might, just might, one day fertilize an egg?  Probably 
not.  I don't recall abortion being mentioned in the Bible, but there's 
considerable food for thought when it comes to the sin of Onan.  If 
you're spilling your seed onto the ground, gentlemen . . . God help 
you.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com

PS: And don't even start with Thou Shall Not Kill; there are too many 
qualifiers.  Thou Shall Not Kill unless we're talking about a convicted 
criminal, or self-defense, or the "enemy."  Pshaw.