From: vengeanc@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu ()
Subject: Re: Can't we all just get along?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 09:26:39 GMT

bskendig@netcom.com (Brian Kendig) writes:

>I cancelled my original article less than a minute after I put it up,
>Patrick, because I was in a bad mood when I posted it and I said some
>things which could be interpreted as flames.  I'm not sure how it
>still got out to your site, but what's done is done.

>One thing I'll say in my defense, though, for those readers who
>somehow got the article: There's a difference between clueless newbies
>who parade around this newsgroup saying "ab0rtion is murder" and reply
>to every single thing a pro-choicer says by parroting those words over
>and over again, and considerate pro-lifers who believe that abortion
>is murder but can back up their opinions by responding considerately
>to pro-choice arguments.  (As in, "I know you feel that abortion
>should be allowed because _____, but I still believe that the reasons
>to protect a fetus are more important than the reasons you give to
>take its life because _____.")

>I encourage considerate discussion with pro-lifers.  I don't like it
>when people assume some morally superior attitude, though.  You seem
>reasonable, Patrick; I look forward to debating with you.  :)

I think the problem here, Mr. Kendig, is that morals, by nature, require
one to believe that those who do not follow those morals are inherently
inferior to some extent.  In other words, we live by a certain set of
morals.  When we see others violating those morals, it is quite
natural to assume the mantle of superiority.  

I consider myself morally superior to John Wayne Gacy (murderer) and
John F. Kennedy (adulterer).  Though there is no way to compare 
these two, you can see that both stand for something which I find
morally reprehensible. 

Regarding my posts on these matters.  True, I am often a bit barbed with
my comments.  This was purely reactionary on my part to the treatment
I received here when I first posted.  After posting a simple story,
I was lambasted by the likes of Susan as a "bozo".  I do not feel
therefore that my terse statements are in any way unwarranted here.  

I do understand that a large number of pro-choice people in the general
population have made that decision based on a concern for their fellow
man (or woman in this case).  I do not think that stating this in 
every single post will in any way change the import of the rest of
my ideas. 

Why is my repeating "abortion is murder" any more stupid than those
who keep saying "abortion is not murder", or those who keep saying 
"stop oppressing women by taking away their reproductive rights", etc.?

Is it any more unreasonable of me to expect that pro-choicers understand
that I really do care about the unborn than for them to expect that I
understand their concern for women?  I have not met a single pro-lifer
motivated by anything but a respect for life.  To be quite honest,
I have not found such a homogenous idealogy in the pro-choice people I have
met. 

I do try to respond to reasonable pro-choice commentary.  Unfortunately,
time constraints and frustration sometimes get the best of me.  Answering
the same questions endlessly, however, is somewhat tiresome. "Would you
put all women to death who have abortions?" "fetuses are not legal persons"
and all those things I have written on already that keep being thrown
at me.  

You might be surprised how many pro-choice beliefs I share.  Has abortion
been used to oppress women? Yes.  Could it be used that way in the future?
Yes.  Can pregnancy be a terrible burden and a life-changing trauma? Yes.
Many pro-lifers agree about the existance of these problems, and would
like to find a way to rectify them.  We just don't feel that killing
an innocent human being is the way to do this.  

I know that I would be personally overjoyed if 100% reliable birth
control became available that was cheap and safe.  This would mean that
abortions would become totally undesirable.

I apologize sincerely if you feel any of my remarks were too sharp.

>-- 
>_/_/_/  Brian Kendig                             Je ne suis fait comme aucun


Edward Simmonds


Newsgroups: talk.abortion