In a few minutes, I'm leaving to vote, go to the post office, and workout at the gym. I believe that these are the three fundamental tenets of citizenship, no? OK, maybe not the gym, but certainly voting and using our fine national mail service.
I'm particularly thinking about what being a good citizen means because of a conversation going on over at BlogHer about being "pro-life". (And, incidentally, there is also an excellent post about being "pro-choice.") I left a comment on the "pro-life" post about entrusting individuals to make decisions based on their own beliefs and circumstances, and was shocked when my comment was compared to Nazi Germany and the American South during slavery. When I protested (not as articulately as I should have), several more comments comparing the Holocaust to legal abortion appeared.
Pretty much nothing enrages me more than the grotesquely inaccurate comparison of legal abortion (in which individuals decide for themselves whether or not to terminate a pregnancy) and genocide (in which government round people up and kill them). People have the right to believe that abortion is murder. I can understand why someone would think that, and while I do not agree with that belief, I can respect it. However, unless a government is building special pregnancy termination centers, removing women from their homes, and forcing abortions on them, it is not even remotely close to a holocaust. To compare an individual choice to a state-sponsored killing machine severely undermines the true evil of genocide around the world. If someone cannot understand this extremely fundamental difference... seriously, I am actually at a loss for words.
Anyway, I am not a Nazi (although yesterday I drafted a very sarcastic and angry post in response to this outrageous slander, which I may have the good sense to never allow to see the light of publication), and I am going to vote today. I'm proud to participate in a democracy, and I am even prouder to stand up for self-determination in the face of ideological bullying.
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I read the anti-choice post and had to stop at about the 10th comment because it was too much. I, too, am at a loss about the Holocaust statement. This is the propaganda that people use in the debate, irregardless of the accuracy.
ReplyDeleteNow I have to go read the pro-choice post. Thanks for pointing the posts out.
Same here. I stopped reading it to. I had to really, really resist the urge to say something. I can respect someone's right to an opinion, but comparing abortion to the holocaust is way out of line.
ReplyDeleteI haven't gone and read the blog-her entries yet. I'm pro-choice - and strongly so. For exactly the reasons you described. At times in my life, I have be surrounded by the pro-life "way of thinking" and I feel like I understand their beliefs, even though I do not agree.
ReplyDeleteI think at this point in my life - I don't really care what they say. As long as the right to choose is still legal. I believe when people start calling names (which I'm so guilty of with my new boss) is when they don't have an intelligent response.
example: person #1: Here is data number 1, data number 2 and data number 3.
Person #2: Your retarded!
(spelling error on purpose ;))
Usually I like to have a point to my comments - I guess it's just - try not to let it get to you. The people saying that abortion is like the holocaust is just calling names. We all know that it isn't the same. They just don't have any better data to back up their beliefs.
by the way - I love your blog... I so look forward to your posts - I think we might be long lost political twins.
ReplyDeleteYour retarded.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha. That's exactly what I feel like is happening, except what scares me is that these maniacs get legitimate news coverage.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for the supportive comments. Sometimes I feel like the world has gone completely insane around me, and then people like you all remind me that there are oases among the madness.
After talking to you, I decided not to even read the anti-choice post because I know I'll get really angry. I like the "your retarded" comment. Ha! That's still making me laugh.
ReplyDelete