abortion encore
So it could be argued that, in spite of all the agonising and the heartache that it can cause, abortion is really one of the ultimate acts of power against the more or less completely powerless. In fact much of the agonising may involve a realisation of just this fact, that we’re destroying a voiceless, defenceless life, to make our own lives easier. No wonder we find the issue a moral minefield, even without the sacredness-of-life overlay.
Yet I think it should be recognised that these sorts of decisions have been made throughout human history, not always consciously. They’re constantly made in the animal world too, and we shouldn’t forget that we’re animals, though burdened with a more developed conscience. Decisions about the optimum number of offspring to ensure the survival, or the better thriving, of the ‘family’ or of larger groups, are being made all the time, with greater or lesser degrees of self-consciousness, by humans on down to things that creepy-crawl over the earth.
In humans the continuing success of individualism has sharpened our focus on the ‘rights’ of individuals, including the unborn, and religious groups in particular have taken advantage of this focus. This has increased the burden of guilt on women, who are faced with very difficult choices. Of course the choices are very different in different parts of the world – a married woman in the leafy eastern suburbs of Adelaide would have a vastly different view of what better thriving is than a single girl in a Moombai slum, and there are still parts of the world where the ‘rights’ of the unborn are a luxury that just can’t be afforded.
We don’t live in that part of the world however – though of course the luxury of such rights are far from evenly spread in our society – and so the abortion issue could well become as vociferous here as it is in the US. The key, I think is to balance rights against rights in individual cases, to avoid absolutism, and, dare I say, to step back from individualism to look at the costs and benefits for families and society as a whole of a practice which, in any case, is going to continue. To do on the conscious level what in any case we and our animal relatives have always done unconsciously to ensure our best survival. A suitably evolutionary and atheistic note on which to close.
Have spent much time lately on La Luna matters, which have required urgent attention. Also running around after young Mat (back to school this week, and he’s been having trouble arising from the bed of sloth). The health and fitness stuff’s not really happening, though the pedo levels remain high. Lazy eating’s a problem – I just love food. Should try to replace eating with writing. That’s to say, really absorb myself, to the point of forgetting to eat. Now there’s an ambition.
Next post, I promise, will deal with or begin to deal with the ontological argument for the existence of god.
Yet I think it should be recognised that these sorts of decisions have been made throughout human history, not always consciously. They’re constantly made in the animal world too, and we shouldn’t forget that we’re animals, though burdened with a more developed conscience. Decisions about the optimum number of offspring to ensure the survival, or the better thriving, of the ‘family’ or of larger groups, are being made all the time, with greater or lesser degrees of self-consciousness, by humans on down to things that creepy-crawl over the earth.
In humans the continuing success of individualism has sharpened our focus on the ‘rights’ of individuals, including the unborn, and religious groups in particular have taken advantage of this focus. This has increased the burden of guilt on women, who are faced with very difficult choices. Of course the choices are very different in different parts of the world – a married woman in the leafy eastern suburbs of Adelaide would have a vastly different view of what better thriving is than a single girl in a Moombai slum, and there are still parts of the world where the ‘rights’ of the unborn are a luxury that just can’t be afforded.
We don’t live in that part of the world however – though of course the luxury of such rights are far from evenly spread in our society – and so the abortion issue could well become as vociferous here as it is in the US. The key, I think is to balance rights against rights in individual cases, to avoid absolutism, and, dare I say, to step back from individualism to look at the costs and benefits for families and society as a whole of a practice which, in any case, is going to continue. To do on the conscious level what in any case we and our animal relatives have always done unconsciously to ensure our best survival. A suitably evolutionary and atheistic note on which to close.
Have spent much time lately on La Luna matters, which have required urgent attention. Also running around after young Mat (back to school this week, and he’s been having trouble arising from the bed of sloth). The health and fitness stuff’s not really happening, though the pedo levels remain high. Lazy eating’s a problem – I just love food. Should try to replace eating with writing. That’s to say, really absorb myself, to the point of forgetting to eat. Now there’s an ambition.
Next post, I promise, will deal with or begin to deal with the ontological argument for the existence of god.
posted by Stewart at 1:39 pm
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