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Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby Brian » February 11th, 2009, 3:03 am

Just encountered this commentary from Charles Colson - former staffer for U.S. President Richard Nixon who did prison time for his role in the Watergate conspiracy and founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries. I think he is spot on target regarding postmodernism on the issue of abortion as exemplified by the current U.S. President Barack Obama:

Charles Colson Breakpoint Commentary - February 10, 2009: minor clarifications added with inserts in parentheses

[quote][The President and the Innocent


At the (US) National Prayer Breakfast last week, President Obama seemed to signal that he has seen the light and is abandoning his radically pro-abortion agenda.

At least, that’s the only reasonable conclusion one could make after hearing the President, who says he's a Christian, also say: “There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know.”

So I could only surmise that the President now oncludes that “no God” would condone the 1.6 million abortions performed each year in America: 1.6 million innocent lives destroyed.

But I’ve checked the White House website, and it’s very clear that God’s disapproval hasn't changed the administration’s agenda one bit.

Here’s what the White House website says: “President Obama understands that abortion is a divisive issue, and respects those who disagree with him. However, he has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority in his Administration.”

Well, in one way I’m glad I wasn't at the breakfast this year—I was speaking instead at Moody (Bible Institute)—because I’m not sure I would have been able to stay in my seat.

How can a President of the United States say that “there is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being,” when he himself favors a woman’s right to have an abortion under virtually every circumstance? How can he say that when, as an Illinois state senator, he voted against the Illinois Induced Infant Liability Act, which would have protected the lives of babies who survived late-term abortions? When he even had the audacity to describe the act as “One more burden on a woman . . . I can’t support.”

President Obama is a highly intelligent man with a huge job on his hands. I know what the White House is like, and I pray for him fervently every day. But how does such an intelligent man make a statement like this without understanding its implications for his own pro-abortion policies?

The only way to explain it is to understand the intellectual environment, called postmodernism, in which President Obama and his peers have been raised. Generations of Americans have now been taught that truth is subjective. You have your truth, I have mine. And, even worse, I can’t “inflict” my version of truth on you. The law of non-contradiction has been suspended.

So politicians can tell us over and over that they can’t allow their personal faith to affect their views on public policy. Or they can take two completely opposing positions at the same time: like believing that no God condones the taking of innocent life and at the same time, condoning—even promoting—the taking of an innocent life.

The problem isn’t simply President Obama and his views on life; the problem is a postmodern culture which believes that truth is merely a matter of opinion, and that therefore the sanctity of innocent human life is simply an expression of one viewpoint among many.

I have argued for the last 20 years that postmodernism would lead to the unraveling or our society. The fact that so few noticed the contradiction in what the President said and the policies he pursues tells me that we’re far along in the unraveling process.
/quote]
Could not have said it any better.
In Christ alone,
Brian

Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry. Mark Twain
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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby mitchellmckain » February 11th, 2009, 5:12 am

oh boy! Here is the ultimate nightmare topic. I would recommend to John that he immediately forbid discussion on this topic because if he thinks the discussion of homosexuality was heated, he hasn't seen anything. This is a topic of all out warfare -- full of ideolgues who refuse any compromise whatsoever and people who are passionate about the different sides of this issue. Those who would force their ideology on everyone else about what they imagine should be considered to have the same rights as human beings whether it be trees, animals, zygotes or mountains, are what I can only describe as the modern day manifestation of fascism. People are free to live their own lives according to such personal moral commitments but forcing them on everyone else is not compatable with the ideals of a free society. Personally I am horrified by reduction of humanity to genetics, and I think it brings out the absolute worst interpretation of the Bible: that God is seeking the redemption of mankind through the ethnic cleansing of a demonic corruption of the human race. ...We must not let one group have the right to dictate who or what is human and what is not and thus who should live and who die, because the potential abuse of this is just too monsterous. Thus ideologues on who refuse to compromise on this issue must not be tolerated.
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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby john » February 11th, 2009, 5:43 am

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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby AllanS » February 11th, 2009, 6:07 am

“And turn their grief into song?" he replied. "That would be a gracious act and a good beginning."

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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby mitchellmckain » February 11th, 2009, 6:50 am

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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby mitchellmckain » February 11th, 2009, 6:59 am

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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby AllanS » February 11th, 2009, 7:01 am

“And turn their grief into song?" he replied. "That would be a gracious act and a good beginning."

Quid and Harmony: a fund-raising project for the Fistula Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. www.smithysbook.com
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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby AllanS » February 11th, 2009, 7:12 am

“And turn their grief into song?" he replied. "That would be a gracious act and a good beginning."

Quid and Harmony: a fund-raising project for the Fistula Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. www.smithysbook.com
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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby mitchellmckain » February 11th, 2009, 7:21 am

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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby AllanS » February 11th, 2009, 8:27 am

“And turn their grief into song?" he replied. "That would be a gracious act and a good beginning."

Quid and Harmony: a fund-raising project for the Fistula Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. www.smithysbook.com
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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby mitchellmckain » February 11th, 2009, 10:55 am

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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby john » February 11th, 2009, 1:56 pm

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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby teomiriam » February 11th, 2009, 5:07 pm

"Getting rid of dragons is not at all my line, but I'll do my best to think about it"" Bilbo Baggins
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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby Bluegoat » February 11th, 2009, 5:27 pm

Hmm, at the risk of getting into something messy..

It seems to me that part of the problem in all public regulation is finding the line between individual liberties and soical norms, or values. In some things it is pretty easy, in others, even when the facts are agreed upon, values and interpretations vary widely. In other cases, people can't even agree on the facts.

I'd be interested to know, Mitch, how you think we should decide what is fascism, and what is a place where we have to accept compromise? How do we begin to tell the difference?

Abortion is particularly sticky because depending upon which facts you accept as true or most likely, the consequences are quite different, and serious. But I am not sure that this is primarily the result of postmodernism, as the article suggests. There is a kind of postmodern attitude that suggests that ideas or principles are totally internal things, and that our ideas do not have to translate to our actions. It is the same attitude that says that religion is private, so we must never never show it in public life, but extended to all of our personal convictions/beliefs/understndings.

But abortion seems to me to be more complicated than this, it is not just a matter of saying that our beliefs or conclusions about abortion are "private" ideas. I think that we (as a population) are not even sure of the facts of our beginnings, much less how to interpret them. Our population is really quite divided on these questions, which makes it very difficult to even begin to talk about how to legislate about them. I am in Canada, though, so Roe vs. Wade is not perhaps so much influencing my thought.

As far as what people actually think about abortion, I'd say there are roughly three approaches.

One says all potential human life is sacred, so no abortion. Even a zygote is potential human life, even if it is not a "person" with a soul. Typically this view also doesn't allow most forms of birth control, which is perfectly logical.

The second says that it is the soul that is sacred, and makes us a person, so no abortion of anyone who has a soul. When the soul is there then becomes the issue. People tend to take one of two approaches to this problem; they try to pinpoint when the fetus has a soul (rather difficult) or they say it is impossible to know, so we must assume that it is there from the beginning.

The third says that all of this is irrelevant, the mother's rights are what counts, even if there is a person with a soul involved.

All of this is further complicated by the fact that there can be many sticky situations, such as when there are medical problems or rape. What can we possibly impose on a pregnant woman who needs chemotherapy, right now?

I think these difficulties are why some people feel that it is best to let each person navigate the issues, more that a feeling that each person's ideas are equally "right." Certainly, I haven't seen much useful public discourse on the issue.
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Re: Pro Life, Pro Abortion and Postmodernism

Postby mitchellmckain » February 11th, 2009, 7:06 pm

Last edited by mitchellmckain on February 11th, 2009, 8:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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