Wednesday, October 08, 2008

What Does "Pro-Life" Really Mean?

What does the term "Pro-Life" mean to you?

For a long time now, there seem to have been only two camps: "Pro-Life" and "Pro-Choice" (or, depending on which camp you're in, those translate to "Right-Wing Religious Wacko" or "Baby Killer"). I think, though, that being "Pro-Life" is a much more far-reaching term...or should be!

Some years ago I decided to leave the world of Two-Party Politics. I was tired of the dichotomies I see in each party on this issue of valuing life. The Republican Party says "Abortion is murder" but out the other side of the elephant's mouth comes the phrase "Capital Punishment is OK!". On the other hand, the Democratic Party says "We have to defend a woman's right to choose!" but out the other side of the donkey's mouth comes the statement "Capital Punishment is murder!"

Today I give a respectful hat tip to one of my heroes, Rose for this (pdf) link to a wonderful synopsis of what "Pro-Life" really means. I encourage you to go read that link, then come back here and read the poem I was inspired to write this morning. I also wonder what you think of it all? What does "pro life" mean to you?
Seed splits open;
life sprouts from within;
mystery becomes mystery.

We are,
all of us,
powerful beyond measure;
able to achieve so much
on behalf of
those who are voiceless
No matter what age they are,
no matter what they've done,
no matter what:
we all matter.

because

We are,
all of us,
valuable beyond measure;
unique and irreplaceable.
No matter what age we are,
no matter what we've done,
no matter what:
we all matter.

Seed falls to the ground;
death becomes life;
from mystery to mystery.
~ Keith

2 comments:

James Proffitt said...

My daughter Crystal and I had a similar conversation this morning. I described to her how I believe it's most important to give resources to women so that they have more options than abortion. That is how I feel I can vote for a pro-choice candidate who will provide those resources and opportunities to women. A pro-life candidate who favors business concerns and believes in trickle down economics won't be there to help women who face the issue of choice or help them raise the children.

We didn't talk about the death penalty but I've recently come to the conclusion that it's not up to us to decide when to end a murderer's life. That choice is God's. And the most important thing about a murderer is his relationship with his creator. It's not up to me to decide when he's had enough time to make the right choice with God. We can lock him up. That's fine. But the life given to him by God should be respected, in spite of the horrible things he may have done.

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