From: bwalls@albert.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Bryan Walls)
Subject: Re: The Disease is Cropping Up All Over, It Seems
Organization: Martin Marietta Astronautics, Denver
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 19:42:14 GMT

>>>>Both of you, shut up. Reasons, if you want them, are over on the thread
>>>"What the Pro-Lifers Don't Tell You" in about nine different places. I'm
>>>sick of typing the damned thing out when you should know better by now.
>>>This is not an appropriate analogy to abortion, or to any non-genocidal
>>>situation.
>>>
>>>Followups to alt.nazi.nitwits, or alt.jdl.actionline.
Obviously, no one is force you to flame in every discussion.  Or keeping you
from it.  Your choice.
>
>>Wait a second. I can understand why a pro-lifer could easily blend this
>>into the abortion debate. I believe that many of the pro-lifers see
>>the abortion issue as just another case of genocide. A genocide against
>>unborn children. I don't agree with them, but I can understand this 
>>connection. The slaughtering of Jews, Gays, Protestants, and those that
>>Hitler determined to be his enemies may to them be just as bad as
>>their preceived genocide of (as they claim...millions of unborn). 
>>
>>Personally, I can't see how they could equate the abortion of fetuses
>>with the death of live, breathing, thinking people, in germany, or
>>cambodia, or wherever. But then I don't equate the value of a fetus
>>as being == to the value of a born individual.
>>
>>There feelings are valid, but misguided.

From a Christian viewpoint not necessarily so.  I believe that a person's
value comes from their having been created in the image of God - with
a soul, and with potential to develop that soul.  This is in opposition to
the humanist idea (with many variants) that a person is worth what he
contributes or, for those less secular, his current "spiritual development".
Thus the value of a fetus and a functional adult, whether that adult is
a saint, a "hitler", or a nonentity (in our estimation), is the same.
Worth the life of Christ (at his choice).  Thus, in my opinion, I should
do what I can to help other people to develop in the pattern the designer
(God) set forth.  Murder is thus BAD, because it prevents the development
of the both the murdered and the murderer.

>You clearly didn't go and look where I've already said this eight
>times this week, so I'll repeat it here: Nobody has ever yet come up
>with any remote indication that this kind of garbage does them any
>good whatsoever in their stated cause. ...
<stuff deleted>
> AKA people who claim
>to be pro-life are hurting some people's chance for survival, while
>not saving even one fetus by this tactic. This is not being passionately
>pro-life, this is being at best stupid, and at worst, as in Kellmeyer's
>case, actively and deliberately genocidal. 

A couple of comments.  I just started reading this thread, so I haven't
seen this 8*repeated argument.  However, in my view, the point is that
murder is BAD, and mass murder is Very BAD.  The holocaust is often used
because everyone agrees that that mass murder was Very BAD.  I find it
unlikely that pointing out the similarities (from the above viewpoint
on calculating a person's value) will encourage people in thinking that 
mass murder is Not So Bad.  And can pointing out that all human life is
valuable save a fetus?  Maybe.  How could I not try?

Bryan Walls
bwalls@marvin.msfc.nasa.gov



Newsgroups: alt.abortion.inequity