Freedom of Speech and the Abortion Debate

So, I'll just say this and you can let it settle in. My name is Alan and I'm pro-life. I believe life begins at conception.

Hello...you OK? So what are you feeling? Do you hate me? Has this one statement changed your entire opinion of me? Can we still be friends?

I'm more or less picking up from my last blog on Freedom of Speech. The world today has taken an Us vs. Them mentality. And I forgot to mention that I'm a born-again Christian. Have I lost you?

Since getting involved in Improvisational Comedy and surrounding myself with democrats, atheists and pseudo-communists, I've always been considered an outsider. He's a great guy, except for the fact that he's a Republican. I was not liked for a long time when Bush beat Kerry.

So let's talk Abortion. Here's the problem with where the debate has taken us. The two sides of the debate are apples and oranges.

For the apples, life begins at conception, therefore abortion is murder.

For the oranges, women have the right to choose and no one has the right to control what a woman does with her body.

Do you see it? Two different sides of the same coin. One side focuses on the definition of "life" and the other focuses on the definition of "choice." Pro-lifers completely ignore choice because "life" is sacred. Pro-choicers completely ignore the beginning of life, because choice is a right.

So because we are so entrenched in our positions, our only form of debate is mockery and ridicule. From the right, you're nothing but baby-killers. On the left, you want to enslave women.

Here's the problem for the left and the right. Somehow we feel that even if we entertain the other side's point of view, we are betraying our own beliefs. But in honest debate, you have to have to consider the idea that maybe the other side has a point. Maybe there is merit in their beliefs.

To the Pro-Choices, I challenge you with this question, "if life does not begin at conception, when does it begin?" Embryos, fetus, baby. Even you know that an infant passing through the birth canal does not constitute life. So when? Honestly, I can't see why partial-birth abortion is acceptable to anyone.

To the Pro-Lifer, you have to consider do you want to live in a world where the government can dictate what you can or can't do with your own body. Do you really believe in Forced Birth? What about rape and incest? Read the story of David and Bathsheba. There's a Biblical equivalent to abortion in that story.

Before I end, let me tell you my personal take on legalized abortion.  I'm Pro-Life and proudly so. I would like to do away with abortion, but I don't believe I can do it through legislation. They only way to win the abortion debate is to lower the demand for abortion. How? Responsible discussions of sex to teens. Awareness of the growing number of parents want to adopt children.

That said, Can we bring back the art of debate where we look for common ground and not to win.

Are We Losing Our Freedom of Speech?

Slowly. Little by little. We are giving up small pieces of our freedom of speech. Not only, our freedom of speech but our freedom to believe in whatever we want, right or wrong.

It's not like we're going to jail for our beliefs but we are losing our jobs, we are publicly shunned and ridiculed because we refuse to believe in what is considered main stream thought.

If you're honest about debate, just want the news and televisions shows. For example, I've come out against the way Christians are treating homosexuals in their words and deeds, but at the same time, Christian should have the right to believe in their own convictions.

Recently in Riverside, pressure was placed on a teacher for stating she thought homosexuality was a sin. Is that worthy to lose your job and livelihood. Now the debate has turned to birth control. Catholic organizations are being pressured to provide birth control to employees against Catholic convictions. Again, I have no problem with birth control, but why should catholics be penalized for following their beliefs.

Here's an example of such politically correct bullying: Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood. In short, Susan G. Komen withdrew financial support to Planned Parenthood. Read the story and tell me how SGK was not bullied back into financially supporting Planned Parenthood. How exactly is this not legal extortion?

I'm always concerned about public debate. Why, because it is no longer a debate. The left and right have become so polarized that rather than hearing the opposing side, we've become comfortable with mockery and ridicule. Our society is lost once we accept the us vs. them style of debate.

I always believed in healthy debate, understanding the opposing viewpoint and then finding common ground. The problem today is that if we truly believe that I'm right and your wrong. Then the only way to win an argument is to kill your opponent. The last time this happened was the civil war. Is our only future, a cultural civil war?