Rant of the Week

When I was young....I really had no audible opinions. I did have my beliefs, but I never voiced them. Maybe I was too shy or maybe like a lot of people, I didn't want to make waves or be looked at funny if my opinion was "different" than someone elses. As I have gotten older though, I realized that there are times in your life that it becomes all about the "put up shut up". You simply have to take a stand from time to time....yes....even if others look at you funny!

I usually like to keep things fairly uncontroversial on here, but every once in awhile I get riled and have to pull out the old soap box and speak my mind. Apparently I don't do it enough as one reader told me I was too middle of the road and needed to have a little more fire in my belly when I wrote my blog. Hmmm.....well.....I  guess then, that it is a good thing I have decided to make Saturday's My Rant of the Week! Now before I begin...let me put a little disclaimer here. My opinions are just that.....my opinions. And well it should be....as this is my blog. I am in no way saying that I am always right (although it is pretty much a given that I am) nor that there aren't different sides and views to an issue. I am not asking you to agree with me......but I am asking you to respect my right to have my beliefs and to express them on my blog. In turn, I give you  the right to respectfully comment on and express your own beliefs here too. The way I see it....it is a win/win situation when more than one opinion can be expressed and read. And who knows.....maybe someone might learn something in the process. So here we got with My Rant of the Week!

I am sure you have heard the expression Go hard or go home. Well I might as well jump into this and go hard! A friend and I were discussing politics the other day and our governments current economic failures. Planned Parenthoods defunding was discussed which lead us into abortion. Ahhhh abortion....the hot button of all hot buttons since 1973. I used to speak up and out about abortion all the time. I prayed in front of clinics, talked to several young girls contemplating abortions and agonized with a few friends who had abortions and then realized they couldn't take the action back. I have debated abortion more times than I can even remember and in most cases...the person I debated blew up and walked away. Few who I have debated with opposing views on the subject have ever stayed around to consider facts from both sides instead of just the facts they "choose" to listen to and want to believe. The ones that have stayed....I have an abundant respect for.

I was told one time by someone who was extremely pro-choice that I seemed like such an intelligent person....so they were baffled that I could be pro-life, which in their opinion was so unintelligent. I laughed and said....You know, I was just thinking the same thing about you. The conversation ended there, with the woman literally stomping away in a huff. My thought then and there was....if you think your pro-choice views are correct, then stand there and back them up...don't try to insult me and then walk away angry because it failed. I am always willing to stay and debate, why? For one simple reason.....No one human's choice should ever trump another human's life! It is just that simple. Life should always come before choice!

Since Roe v. Wade in 1973, the best estimate is that 50 million human lives have been destroyed due to abortion. This is a very conservative estimate due to the fact that many abortions are never reported and the "destroyed" does not count the families that have fallen apart due to abortions, the relationships and marriages that have been damaged because of it and both the mental and physical damage that has been done to women who have had abortions. If all these are factored in....the number of life's destroyed sky rockets and we wonder why society is the way it is today?!

In my opinion....we live in a very damaged world and I do blame a lot of who we are as a country on certain moral stances that we no longer see as valid....not the least of which is abortion. Human life is a gift and should be protected and respected from conception to natural death. Before 1973....the country as a whole had more of a moral compass than after that landmark decision. When we stopped respecting the most innocent and fragile of human lives....we started disrespecting all human life. Abuse both child and spousal, rapes and murders have sky rocketed since 1973. Human life is now expendable. Life is no longer sacred and I do believe the legalization of abortion helped to push the country into the a moral place it has become. We are desensitized to the fact that women "choose" daily to destroy human life because of inconvenience, fear, selfishness, etc....but we will go crazy if an animal is harmed or a tree cut down. It is okay to "choose" to kill a defenseless human life but it is not okay to wear fur. What is wrong with this picture? People will shun someone who ties a dog up in their yard, but will fully support a woman's right to "choose" death for her unborn child? How does this make sense? It makes sense because this is who we are as a country. We are selfish, we are narcissistic and most of all we have lost all touch with right and wrong in respect to human life. By the way, before anyone twists my words...I do not support animal cruelty in any fashion, but I do believe that although animals on the whole are better than a lot of people I have had the pleasure to know.....I still think human life trumps animal life in the big scheme of things. We should be putting as much if not more emphasis on saving the baby humans, than we do on the baby seals.

I know that there are a million pro-choice arguments about abortion....mothers health, rape, financial issues, age, family situation....I have literally heard them all. I also know that mother's health and rape are usually less than 1% of the reason women have abortions. I know that if you are pro-choice and really good at debating the subject....you can come up with heart wrenching and socially acceptable reasons why abortion is not only a want in this country but a "need." But what about these reasons are morally acceptable? As I have said....I have heard it all. But what is boils down to is....there is always an alternative. There is adoption! The adoption waiting lists are years long and for someone who finds themselves pregnant and unable to take care of their child....adoption is a wonderful choice. And I have also heard many times...well what about the mothers mental state having to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term? Well what about her mental state when her actions have no consequences and so she goes out and gets pregnant yet again...only to repeat the cycle? What about her mental state when somewhere down the line she realizes that abortion is an act you can't take back? What about when she realizes that her choice cost her child his/her life? Are we worried about her mental state then....or just when she is carrying that "unwanted" baby?

And for those of you who prefer the term fetus.....because it gives a mental picture of more of a blob than a human life.....I respectfully say bull $&!#. Zygote, fetus, newborn, toddler, teenager, adult....they are all stages of human life that everyone goes through. You are no less a human being as a zygote than you are as an adult. The only difference is that as a zygote/fetus you have no right to life.

I could literally go on about abortion for days, but I won't. I think you understand now though....where I stand on the subject. I will however give you a quick tutorial on being pro-life. Pro-life does not mean I am some political/religious fringe nutcase who is standing around waiting to blow up an abortion clinic. It does not mean I think all abortion doctors and staff should die at all costs. It does not mean that I think all women who have abortions are going to hell. It also does not mean that I am an anti-abort. There is a difference between anti-aborts and pro-lifers. Anti-aborts are the radical fringe who do blow up clinics, kill staff and think all women are going to hell who have abortions. They see the fight as an eye for an eye and don't respect human life anymore than those who support abortion do.

I am pro-life. I believe in protecting and respecting all human life from the moment of conception to natural death. To me being pro-life goes beyond abortion. It means if a woman chooses life over abortion and needs help with that choice....I need to be there to help support her and her child. It means helping not just the unborn, but any human life in need, from going to the store for the elderly lady who can no longer drive, to watching the little boy down the street whose mother is having surgery. It means being a good friend and a good neighbor. It means taking a stand against abuse and discrimination, bullying and hate. It means treating others the way I myself would like to be treated. Being pro-life is all of those things and more. So the next time you decide to call me a woman hater or spit on me because I "choose" life, remember....I am a woman....and your mother chose life too!

So there is my rant! Do you agree? Disagree? Feel free to comment away. Oh...and don't forget to have a great Saturday!