From: Chuck.Lavazzi@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Chuck Lavazzi)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion
Subject: Re: Sanity of discussion
Summary: Sanity?  Where?
Date: 13 Apr 92 05:46:52 GMT
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service

In article <57@devl3.UUCP> root@devl3.UUCP (Super user) writes:
>I have been browsing through the articles in this group for a couple of
>hours now and I have seen very little to convince me that there will ever
>be a reasonable solution to this debate.
>
	Couldn't agree more.  It should be obvious by now that this is the
political equivalent of declared war.  Most folks have already divided up
into armed camps, the arms being money and votes (along with bombs and death
threats for a minority of anti-abortion types) and, of course, words.  Lots of
them.

>With the exception of two or three posts, most of the individuals who are
>engaged in this flame-war are so far to the fringes of their respective
>positions that it is virtually impossible to believe that they could ever
>come to any agreement.
>
	Largely true, although (as I noted here earlier) some pro-choice and
pro-life types are actually trying to do this by agreeing on the things that  
they both see as problems and attacking them jointly.  The "Common Ground"
group started here in St. Louis as a joint effort of Reproductive Health
Services and Missouri Citizens for Life is a good example.  How well these
efforts will fare as the war continues to heat up is anybody's guess.

>I have been a Christian most of my life, but when I see the attitudes
>being carried by some of my fellow "christians" I am, quite frankly,
>frightened.  I took my family to see the Atlanta Passion Play yesterday
>and it was gratifying to me to recognize once again that the Christ I
>serve is not the condemnatory bigot that some "christians" seem to follow.
>I feel that it will not be long before these so-called "christians" will
>find a way to force each of us into their perfect little belief boxes
>whether we actually believe or not.  Even I as a Christian will be in
>danger if I don't toe their party line.  As long as our actions are right,
>they don't care what is in our heads.
>
>I know I will probably get my brains beat out by both elements but I
>am anti-abortion/pro-choice.  The whole kingdom of God is based on the
>element of free-will.  Each individual is guaranteed by God the privilege
>to choose for themselves whether or not they will follow Him.  That being
>the case, I cannot in good conscience make any effort to remove from my
>fellow humans the freedom of choice that my God has given them.  Those
>choices may range all the way from which socks to wear tomorrow morning,
>to whether or not to accept His offer of salvation, including the choice
>of whether or not to have an abortion.
>
	Actually, I kind of doubt that most pro-choice types will flame you.
I'm pro-choice and *I* sure wouldn't!  I'll bet you get some folks telling you
you're not a *real* Christian, though.

>Though the so-called right-to-lifers in this debate appear to be the
>angriest of the two, the vitriol spewing from both sides really gives me
>cause to doubt the sanity of either.  As I said at the beginning, I don't
>believe that there will ever be agreement on a compromise.
>
	There's a line in the play "Waltz of the Toreadores" to the effect
that the worst thing a soldier can do is begin to see The Enemy as a human
being like himself.  It saps away the resolve to destroy that enemy.  The
same applies to this political war.  In order to keep the faithful in line
it is *essential* that the other side (whether pro-life or pro-choice) be
dehumanized as much as possible, or at least characterized as somehow
despicable.  So many of the folks on my side insist on seeing the pro-lifers
as a bunch of woman-hating, pro-control fascisti.  And many of the pro-lifers
insist on seeing pro-choice folks as stupid, selfish, misguided and self-
deceiving, if not outright Tools of Satan(tm).
	Once you understand the nature of this dynamic, it's not hard to
understand what's going on in this group.  Battlefileds are often chaotic.

>->  Steven Foster					<-
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Chuck
No .sig, no fat, no foolin'

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