The Sanctity of Every Human Life
From The Week (emphasis mine):
Some people think they’re “more Catholic than the pope,” said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. Conservatives are lobbying to rescind an invitation to President Obama to speak during commencement next month at Notre Dame, the nation’s best-known Catholic university. They reason that Obama’s views on abortion are incompatible with those of the church—but Pope Benedict XVI has been cordial to Obama, so why can’t they?
Because Catholics believe abortion is the premeditated killing of an unborn child, said Patrick Buchanan in RealClearPolitics, and Obama is the most pro-abortion president this country has ever had. Notre Dame’s job isn’t to “join the secularists in their endless scavenger hunt” for truth—it’s to “teach eternal truths about God and Man,” including the sanctity of every human life.
No, no, no. Not every human life.
Every human life, except women like Tammy Watts, Viki Wilson, and Vikki Stella. And nine-year-old pregnant incest survivors.
Every human life, except for soldiers identified as having severe psychological problems, including clinical depression and suicidal ideation.
Every human life, except for a certain number of human beings lying in coffins, although not dead, still alive, awake, conscious, aware they are lying inside a coffin; or hanging just above the floor, in stress positions, tied by their wrists from hooks in the ceiling; or suffocated with water; or beaten and kicked.
Every human life, except for the 18 human beings who were executed by the state of Texas in 2008, and the one human being executed in 2009, already. (Texas is nothing if not fast and efficient when it comes to the death penalty.)
Am I being tiresome? I’m sorry. I just feel compelled to point out these inaccuracies of language and linguistic meaning. I’m an editor and a writer and a lover of words, and I care about being precise and honest in how words are used, and whether they really are true, or not.
And so, whenever I see that phrase, “the sanctity of every human life,” it just sets my teeth on edge. I would have so much more respect for the people who use such phrases if they said “the sanctity of some human lives under certain highly specific circumstances.” I would have even more respect for the people who use such phrases if they actually and truly did mean every human life, instead of just using that word automatically and unthinkingly, without pausing to consider what it means. There are some people like that, and I respect them for it. But they are all too few.
12 Responses to “The Sanctity of Every Human Life”
Am I being tiresome?
Yes. This debate has already been done ad nauseum.
Generally speaking conservatives care deeply about human life prior to it's passing through a birth canal, after that not so much…
Haven't had a chance to check out all of your links, but from what I can see most of them have nothing to do with the Catholic Church (with the exception of the Brazilian girl who aborted after being raped by her stepfather- a case which IMO was wrongly decided by the bishops since the girl's life was most likely endangered.)
CS
Off topic, but maybe not.
I don't know if you ever listened to Paul Harvey. Out here in fly over country, he was ubiquitous. Here is a link to maybe the best thing he ever did. I think it will resonate for you. Unfortunately, its is just the text, an audio of him telling this story was great.
http://www.doubleqcountry.com/artman2/publish/B…
Christine,
My reason for starting with the quote from The Week article about Notre Dame and Barack Obama was intended as a starting point to discuss that specific phrase used by opponents of legal abortion — not just Catholics. I totally understand why you might have taken it as a commentary on the Catholic Church in particular, but in this post I was focusing on that expression, which I think is used unthinkingly by many abortion opponents without considering the contradictions and inconsistencies inherent in their use of the word “every.”
kathyedits, if you'd like to tee up a reasonable and nuanced discussion of a very emotional, personal and complex topic such as abortion, one should not subscribe to the Shaun Mullen School of Napalm Journalism.
If, as you claim, you are a lover of words, you would actually realize starting off with quotes from the LA Times and Pat Buchanan indicates your views are impervious already.
CO,
If, as you claim, you are a lover of nuanced discussion, you would actually realize starting off with claiming this as a “Shaun Mullen School of Napalm Journalism” style article indicated your views are impervious already.
This was no where near as bad as some of Shaun's more flame-bait articles. Claiming it was such is bad form. Could the article have been written better? Yes. Was it “Napalm Journalism”, No.
OK, it was bad form……..spank me……..please
The LAT and Buchanan quotes were not mine. They were quoted in the The Week article that I, in turn, quoted from. And the point of my post, as I wrote above to Christine, was not the viewpoint, napalm-like or not, of any particular publication. The point of my post was to look at the phrase “the sanctity of every human life,” and examine whether people who use this phrase (and most people who use this phrase use it in the specific context of opposing the legality of abortion) really and truly do believe that *every* human life is sacred.
All those other issues and points you raise may be perfectly legitimate and interesting to discuss, and if you want to discuss them, fine. They just happen not to be the one sharply focused point I was attempting to make.
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Kathy, there isn't much more to say than what DQ said: “Generally speaking conservatives care deeply about human life prior to it's passing through a birth canal, after that not so much…”
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