Theos-Talk Archives (August 1995 Message tl00102)

My comments about McCorvey and abortion came out of a flame
thrower, so I would like to get out the extinguisher before I
reap the karma of two much heat and not enought light. :)

It is not really my fight (pro or anti abortion), but it keeps
grabbing my attention because it is part of my karma that I want
what is convenient and "feel good" warm fuzzy kind of
rationaliztions for problems that have a deeper significance.

In other words, I think that the population must be controlled to
maintain any quality of life on this planet. Responsible people
have made efforts at contraception etc. But a certan mind set
has encouraged the " party now and let others pay the price"
mentality. On a personal note, I have been both victim and
perpetrator of this type of refusal to accept consequences for my
choices and choosing to blame what? - society, the system,
fundametalists, the government, my parents and on and on. Of
course abortion in many cases is justified: incest, rape,
endangering the mothers life, defomity etc. I don't think we
should make abortion illegal, but that we wake up to what it
really is and find some alternative if possible.

The feeling that if it looks good as a solution and makes me feel
ok, it is ok, is so humanly understandable but so endemic of
everybody's favorite - DENIAL. I am thinking that abortion is
allowed because we must do something. Teaching abstinence,
forcing parents to take responsiblity etc are not politically
correct.

So the final solution is to just claim a group is NOT HUMAN. The
Nazi's used this with great success in Germany. If you say a Jew
is not human, and enough of your friends say it, then it must be
correct. It is a short step to the ovens.

If you say a foetus is not a human, loud enough and all you
freinds do too, then it is a short step to the freezers instead
of solving the problem of personal responsibility and why these
children are so unwanted in the first place? Again this is not my
fight, but I just want to "feel good" too, like you about
rejecting so many people in such a final way. Something seems to
be wrong if we don't want children because we believe they are
inconvenient are something. If there is poverty, then other
methods might be looked at.

John Mead writes:

1) you believe that you know absolute truth
2) you want your beliefs imposed upon all mankind
3) you deny the individual freedom which god gave each human

peace

Keith:

Well if you want to play this game, what about "thou shall not
kill". How far does your freedom go when it affects others.
According to your logic, we should let serial killers run wild
because nobody should impose their beliefs on others and God
forbid we should stifle their sel-esteem or personal expression.
To end on this topic, I feel that people except war, death camps,
abortion facilites until someone says. "hey, there might be
another way to look at this than the group-think way."

And since I stuck my neck out how do we deal with all the
problems our generation has put off and not solved. We can't
just keep on taxing the rich and giving to the poor because the
rich are getting poor today and who is going to give to them? We
are going to have to face them and it would be nice if theosophy
could offer if not a solution some tools for addressing them the
way fundamentalism does (if in a dubiously moral manner).

Is there something beyond the underlying "let's all escape
through meditaion" ethic?

Namate

Keith Price