Posts by Tess Rooney
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
If we want to get artistic about coats then I suggest people read Nikolai Gogol's short story "The Overcoat".
-
But Pro-life lobbyists might see them as the same. What do you think Tess, do you make distinctions between euthanasia and abortion?
I think both are morally wrong. However I have sympathy for those with say, motor neuron disease or MS, for example, who would rather have euthanasia. I don't agree with their decision, but at least they aren't killing someone else.
OTOH I think euthanasia is highly open to abuse and pressure from family. Maybe not conscieous pressure, but it is horrible to see a loved one die a slow death. I worry that legal euthanasia could create a duty to die feeling across society, especially for the severely disabled whose care is expensive.
-
While you probably don't intend to be patronising, it does rather come across that way.
Sorry, I really didn't mean to be patronising.
Because no one who has an abortion would ever care about the welfare of puppies or other vulnerable creatures?
I didn't mean to imply that at all.
-
Fine, although I would argue that if you became a Catholic you weren't probably that much of an atheist to begin with.
I was pretty un-Catholic in my teens and early twenties I assure you. It would be more fair to say I had a high degree of softness when it came to babies.
I think it's really to do with my nature more than anything. I remember at one 48hour party getting very angry with a drunk skinhead who was being mean to his puppy. Or a few years ago when I stopped a fight in town between a couple of drunk guys (note to very small guy, don't piss off the 6 foot plus Russian by calling him a f&*$ing European). Thankfully I spoke a tiny amount of Russian and could make him back off by asking what his babushka would have thought.
-
I see no moral difference between a 6 month old baby and an unborn baby.
See - you applying that to women who don't share your faith-based belief in when life commences is why some of us would like to see religion retreating from our institutions.
It's not a faith based belief actually. I was pro-life when I was an atheist. In fact when I became sexually active as a young teenager I told my then boyfriend not to proceed with sex if he wasn't prepared to deal with the fact that I would not have an abortion if I fell pregnant. I just happened to join a faith that agreed with my already formed opinion.
Granted you don't see an unborn baby as a human person, but I truely do. Just because I can choose not to kill my own children doesn't mean I can sit happily by while other women kill theirs.
Just as I would pray and vote against any death penalty, so I do the same with abortion. I sincerely believe that forcing a woman to be pregnant is less terrible than killing her unborn child.
-
But your Church says that women (even women who don't believe) shouldn't be allowed to have that option. How do you explain/justify that?
Ok, this is a fair question.
I believe that human persons begin at the moment of conception and end with natural death. I think that killing human persons is wrong, because life is special and precious. I do however think that people can defend themselves, and there are some cases where defending a community may lead to war, but this must be a last resort.
Even lives conceived via rape are precious. Killing the unborn because of the actions of their father is wrong.
I don't even agree with the death penalty for criminals, how could I justify killing an innocent unborn baby even in such difficult circumstances?
On the more practical side... That doesn't mean I think that a pregant woman should deal with this alone. Women in this terrible situation should have access to unlimited support. I also have little problem with women using Emergency Contraception to suppress ovulation after a rape.
-
giovanni:
The questions don't feel straightforward. The implication in the questions is that my Church is an evil organisation that wants to hurt people.
It's been said that I haven't dealt with you with enough empathy, and that's probably very true. Given your family's dark history with the Church, you are very negative about it, and I'm sorry I wasn't more empathetic about that with you.
I think it's better for me to back out of a discussion where mulitple posters criticise and insult and I have to try and reply to often complex questions, rather than for me to get wound up and angry and deal unfairly with people - as I dealt unfairly with you.
Realistically none of you need me to answer questions about the Church, you are all capable of finding out for example, the interfaith diplomatic efforts of the Holy See. Likewise you can all google for the Catechism and other documents to discover the theology of the Church.
-
I will comment back to B Jones though.
What if instead of abortion we swapped it for infanticide?
"To a pro-choice person, their ability to make their own decisions about themselves, their health and their families according to their own consciences is just as important as your ability to live according to your own conscience. Just as important. Choice is harder to personify and sympathise with than 6 month old babies, but it's part of what makes us human."
-
As it stands, you're an apologist for an absolute monarchy that only practices diplomacy towards other beliefs when compelled to do so by the force of secular law.
That is untrue.
For example there have been major interfaith gatherings at Assisi. Just read the wikipedia page about John Paul II's relationships with other faiths. The Dalai Lama apparently met him eight times, more than any other dignitary.
Sigh, anyways It's time for me to bow out of this conversation since it has turned into a slagfest against my Church. And whilst it's fine for you to say and feel what you like, I also don't have to stick around and put up with it, especially when it's false.
Although I still would have liked to know what people thought about the demonstrations outside Yoo's home and the fliers distributed around saying that he lived in the area and was a war criminal.
Ah well.
-
Dyan:
My third son was born at 37 weeks and he needed no extra care except for waiting for a few days for his jaundice to subside through feedings. 38 weeks is really not premature.
But either way, we're just not going to agree, especially when it comes to how religion interacts with society. I'm personally quite taken aback and uncomfortable about how quick people can be at trying to move religion out of public life.
I have to say it strikes me as blow to human rights to not allow people of faith to act publically in regards to their beliefs. No one wants a theocracy a la Iran, but I also don't want to live in country that refuses to let people like me play their part in a democracy because I have to hide my beliefs in private.