Brianne, I decided to post this here because it got so long.

On photos and war:

The photos that you linked to were of innocent humans that were killed incidentally from stray bullets, explosions, and bombs; those who were killed accidentally during war. When I said that abortion was more unjust than the killing of the “preborn”, I didn’t mean to infer that the people killed were worth less. I was refering to the cupibilty of the killer and the evilness of the act itself. We could delve and diverge into a just war theory debate, but I’ll just say this. Sometimes force is necessary in order to stop evil. If someone entered the school where I worked and started going from room to room shooting the kids (it does happen), then it would be unjust (i.e. wrong) to not use necessary force to stop the murders. It can be argued that in some cases war can be necessary, though regrettable, in order to stop the work of evil. Think of Hitler and WWII for example. I’ve rarely found the pacifist who would admit that fighting the Nazis with deadly force was evil.

On abortion:

I agree, we should do more to help those in our community who are struggling with an unplanned pregnancy. Sarah and I feel very strongly about this, and we have and continue to make donations to the local crisis pregnancy center; a place where unsure, scared, and lonely women can go to get support. I say this not to toot our own horn, but to tell you that we do practice (at least a little) what we preach.

If you’re not sure when life begins, then why would you think abortion is the right answer? If we don’t know the answer, we should err on the side of life. There is no reason why abortion (as it happens every day in abortion clinics) is even necessary. Even if I agreed with those who said that there are some cases where abortion is needed in order to save the life of the mother, actual statistics show that the VAST majority of abortions are not done for that reason. (Less than 1%). Even the hard cases like rape an incest only account for 3% of all abortions.

This brings up a good point because in I see five possible views on the personhood of the fetus.

1. It is a human being with full legal rights
2. It is a being other than a human – not worthy of protection under the law
3. It is a “partial” human being or “not fully human”
4. It is a human being based on the mother’s “choice”.
5. We are not sure whether or not it is a human being.

If assumption #1 is true, it only makes sense that we outlaw all abortion.
If assumption #2 is true, then we should legalize abortion.
If assumption #3 is true, then we must try to decide what it means to be a partial human being or “not fully human” and decide which laws and rights should or should not apply to this “partial human entity”, and also attempt to discern when full rights and full personhood come into existence.
If assumption #4 is true, then abortion should be legal.
If assumption #5 is true, then we shouldn’t allow abortion. If we don’t know what we’re killing, then we shouldn’t kill it.

Only those who assume to know for sure that it’s not a human life have the right to say that it should be terminated. Unless that is, they don’t value human life, and decide that it’s okay to kill innocent human beings. I say all this not to be rude or crass, but to tell you how I really see it.

I know you’re not going to kill babies. I just wish you didn’t support those who do.

I love you, you know that.

Your friend,

Jayson

Abortion Facts

WFTV.com – Education – Teacher Under Fire For Killing Baby Rabbits As Class Watched

This is is not legal.

Abortion Photos By Age (graphic pictures)

This, however, is.

AP Wire | 03/24/2004 | Ave Maria University to feature largest Catholic church, crucifix

It all sounded so promising. Until I viewed the picture.

Horrible. HORRIBLE! I understand that architects and artists like to “move forward” and “experiment”. But please, don’t build glass churches. PLEASE.

open book: From a reader

Sherry Wendell says something inciteful and profound in response to an Amy Welborn reader. Apparantly, a random reader complained that catholics need to get real, and realize what true suffering is: standing during the liturgy of the eucharist is no big deal.

I have never talked about this publicly before but it was exactly such discussions by “orthodox” Catholics that drove me to despair and nearly out of the Church in my first few floundering years as a Catholic.

The only Catholics I could find who cared about the teaching of the Church in a diocese that was in pretty grim shape seemed to be filled with rage. The only thing they wanted to talk about were liturgical aberations and the corruption of the clergy, etc. etc.

I just had a discussion about this with the Catholic Life group my wife and I lead. It’s sad, but I myself get tired and frustrated at the liturgical nit-picking and constant brooding. I often do it myself. How many have I turned away lord? God help me.

The Jacques Maritain Center at Notre Dame

Jacques Maritain. I haven’t read much of what he’s written but it seems to me to be very acerbic. Biting. I know that he influenced the second vatican council in an almost looming fashion.

“One absolute essential of Christianity is the supernatural quality of grace. Remove that supernatural quality, and Christianity goes bad. What do we find at the source of modern disorder? A naturalization of Christianity.”

– Jacques Maritain, in Three Reformers, 1928