On the subject that divides us all.
Written by AgentBlue
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 08:54 PM.
I'm sure that I'm not the only one who watched the landmark forum that occurred last Saturday in which Pastor Rick Warren, head pastor of Saddleback Church, interviewed both Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. I thought that the whole thing was a very interesting experience and I am really glad that GodTube was able to get this entire forum dissected into clips that are based upon each candidateās response to the questions that Pastor Warren fielded.
I'm going to try and do a blog on each of the major issues that were asked in this forum (as well as the major issues that both candidates will address in the coming election), and I figured I might as well start off big by throwing myself on the crucible and talk about what is probably the most polarizing political issue in the last twenty years.
The subject of abortion is not an easy thing to talk about. Most debates between the two respective views, no matter how civilized they have start out as, will almost always break down at some point into shouting matches with one side accusing the other of being moral fascists while the other side replies with the accusation that first are baby-killers. If only the right side could be determined by whoever shouted the loudest.
The issue of abortion is more complex than deciding when a baby should receive human rights. Most people who are pro-choice are not pro-abortion, they believe that the responsibility in determining this issue falls upon the parents and not the government. Pro-lifers often have a difficult time defining their camp as well because many of them very in degrees of what they think is protecting life. If a person labels themselves "pro-life", does that mean that they are only for protecting and valuing the life of the baby or do they also wish to value and protect the life of the mother as well? (At the risk of going off on a tangent, if a person also values and wishes to protect the lives of people on death row or protect the lives of people in the military by bringing them home from a war, are they "pro-life" too?)
The deeper that a person begins to explore the issue, reality of just how complex it is becomes glaringly apparent. The complexity of the matter is only rivaled by the stark division that it causes amongst the American public, especially Christians. I have known many people whose views match up solidly with Senator Obama, but they will not vote for him in November because of this single issue. And while this political hydra has continued to grow in prominence amongst voters, progress on either side of the debate has been sadly lacking.
Let's face it, most blogs, videos, or speeches will not change the views that a person has on this subject. Despite the fact that we have had a pro-life president for the past eight years, has there been any significant progress in overturning Roe vs. Wade? In his conversation with Pastor Warren, Senator Obama admitted that he could not argue with a person who consistently believed that life begins at conception because that belief a core part of their faith and he respects that. When both sides hold their beliefs so deeply committed to their hearts, change is all but impossible.
That is why I do like a change that Democrats have done recently in their 2008 platform, a change that Senator Obama mentioned to Pastor Warren. While they do continue to support Roe vs. Wade, the Democratic Party "also strongly supports the access to comprehensive affordable family planning services and age-appropriate sex education which empower people to make informed choices and live healthy lives."
What this essentially means then is that the Democrats wish to lower the total number of unplanned pregnancies. If the public is able to make efforts in preventing more unplanned pregnancies, we will also prevent more abortions.
I think this is the one point that EVERYONE can agree on. People on both sides of the political spectrum wants individuals to be able to make responsible decisions when the results could lead to an unplanned pregnancy. Finding common ground amongst both sides is what is going to cause progress to really happen, both in this issue and any issue that may sharply divide the left and the right.
