Learning by Teaching a Class on Intergenerational Ethics — Lesson 10
November 22, 2009Daniel No Comments »I learned many things about abortion in this class on the ethics of reproduction.
For one, I learned that many Christians believe that abortion is not morally wrong. (Before this class, I’d never heard a Christian say that abortion is completely okay!) And they have Bible verses to back up their beliefs. For example, Numbers 3:15-16 says, ”‘Count the Levites by their families and clans. Count every male a month old or more.’ So Moses counted them, as he was commanded by the word of the LORD.”
These Christians take this to mean that fetuses and infants younger than one month old are not considered persons. Okay… I think this passage is taken out of context, but it’s still new to me to hear Christians saying that abortion isn’t unethical.
Next, I learned that many women see abortion rights as vital for gender equality. They believe that women need free access to abortion in order to achieve complete political, social, and economic equality with men.
Truthfully, as a male, I’ve never considered the right to have an abortion as a factor that affects gender equality!
I also learned that one of the key ideas which is at the heart of the abortion debate is the issue of death being a “bad” thing. Killing someone– if that’s what you believe abortion essentially is– is only wrong if death is a bad thing… but why do we immediately assume that death is a bad thing? In some cases, couldn’t living be a worse option than dying? Or do we think that death is a bad thing because most of us have yet to fully come to terms with our own mortality?
But the one thing from the assigned readings that jumped out at me was this passage that talks about how the debate should be less about abortion and more about other issues:
“There are women who are raped and become pregnant; the problem is that they were raped, not that they are pregnant.
There are women who are starving who become pregnant; the problem is that they are starving, not that they are pregnant.
There are women in abusive relationships who become pregnant; the problem is that they are in abusive relationships, not that they are pregnant.”
Well said! The abortion debate often distracts us from tackling the real issues.
I believe that this applies in our personal lives too. When we start accepting full responsibility for our lives, we’ll stop blaming others/our parents/the government/the system/etc. for the unhappiness we feel. Blaming others is just technique we use to side-step the real issues in our lives, and make ourselves feel better because our problems are “someone else’s fault.”
I believe that questions determine your focus in life, and your focus in life determines your behavior, and your behavior determines the results you get. If you don’t take full responsibility for your life, you’ll be asking questions like “Why does this always happen to me?” or “How could the government do this to me?” or “Why couldn’t I have grown up in a better family?”– questions that are certain to lead to more unhappiness.
But when you start taking full responsibility for everything that goes on in your life, you’ll start asking questions like “What can I do to ensure that I get the desired results next time?” or “What can I do to grow as a person today?” or “What can I do to make the best of this situation?”. These are empowering questions that help you get to the root issue of why you’re not getting the results you want.
This Jim Rohn quote sums it up nicely: “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.”
Join the discussion