Loaded Terminology
Posted by Nathaniel.
On of my facebook friends changed her status message to “[redacted] is sick. I have a cold, and I have just come to a cold realization, that our new president is in [sic] baby killer.” She then lists a bunch of youtube videos as sources suggesting that Obama is directly responsible for infanticide. (If you want DVD versions of the videos, they’re available for $9.99 to your church group though. That’s handy.) I was going to shoot her an email but people with calmer minds pulled me away from the keyboard.
I start ranting below…
The status message did made a different common friend change her status to “[redacted] wishes “pro-choice” wasnt synonymous with “baby killer” in some peoples minds…” which sparked a whole flurry of comments since this was safe enough to talk about without directly insulting anyone.
So, two things… conservatives really do a better job with names. “pro life” is stronger than “pro choice”. (“Baby killer” is just purely inflamatory.) It’s not just abortion though. There are lots of other phrases that have been made dirty: “tree hugger”, “liberal”… I can’t think of any similarly loaded term used against the conservative side.
On the abortion issue though, someone commented that:
“Ultimately neither of us is going to change the other person’s mind. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people, yadda yadda. I just take exception to the idea of a living, breathing baby being expendable just because the mom doesn’t want it. I respect that you have the right to your opinion and don’t think less of you for it, I just don’t agree.”
I’m putting words in his mouth, but this argument is used to very much say “I’m against abortion and therefore it should be illegal.” This is where my personal opinion takes a 180 degree path from my friend’s. I’m also very much against abortion, I don’t think that anyone should have to have one. With personal responsibility, consistent use of birth control, perhaps a little bit of Plan-B now and then when things fail, there’s really no reason people should have elective abortions. Of course, there will always be times when abortion is needed… fatal abnormalities in a fetus, medical issues with the mother… but if the other issues were accounted for we could cut the number of abortions by 50%? 90%?
Does this mean that I’m also anti-abortion? Should Roe v. Wade be overturned because abortions shouldn’t be needed at all? No, actually I think that both our opinions are shit. Neither of us has had to actually deal with the making the choice between keeping or terminating a pregnancy. Neither of us are female and therefore will never have to make the choice for ourselves. Our difference of opinion shows that despite both being educated white men, your personal viewpoint matters hugely in what decisions you would make. What I think could be hugely different from what someone down the hall thinks and, as a result, imposing my beliefs on them arbitrarily could take away a choice that is perfectly valid to them.
Of course, that’s not to say that I’d think good thoughts about someone getting a third-trimester abortion, but I can imagine situations where that might be the least worse choice.
January 21st, 2009 at 3:21 pm Using
Oh, one judgement on my part. I can respect my friend who says that he just believes that abortion is wrong. It’s good to have convictions, my argument is just that his convictions shouldn’t be enacted as laws on other people. The whole “baby killer” thing though is just idiotic and raises some serious flags in my mind about whether the person knows how to process ideas.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:14 am Using
Oh man, those sort of comments (as made by your friend) on facebook really make me mad. I think that what a lot of pro-life people choose to ignore is that most people that are pro-choice don’t really get into the baby killing part. I think most people that are pro-choice think a lot like you (and I). Sometimes circumstances make abortion the best option for everyone. That being said, I cannot imagine ever having an abortion or even having to make that choice. From what I’ve read/seen, it seems to be more emotionally traumatic than going through the pregnancy even if you choose adoption. There are also very very few situations where I can ever imagine myself counseling a friend to get an abortion (if she asked for advice).
The interesting thing, though, if that I read a book of essays a few years ago (I wish I could remember the author’s name) that addressed the issue of why women have abortions. I was surprised to see that the #1 reason was not their financial situation or their career situation (too busy to have a baby), but it was the fact that they felt alone. They felt that there wasn’t anyone to support them through their pregnancy, let alone the child’s life. So it seems, that pro-lifers would achieve their goals much more quickly if they stopped posting comments on facebook and set up pregnancy support groups next to the clinic.
anyway…didn’t mean to rant, but I am also annoyed with comments like that on facebook.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:28 pm Using
Rant away Jules. I was actually halfway through a comment last night when I self-censored because I realized I was basically repeating what Nathaniel (and now you) had said.
Nobody wants MORE abortions, you dumbasses! But just because I have an opinion, I shouldn’t automatically legislate all over everybody else’s rights… the world is full of nuance, assholes. J
There, how’s that?