Sunday, January 25, 2009

What Party Should Human Rights Supporters Join?

Another point of my sister's letter was a question (see yesterday's posting). "Why don't conservative Dem's go into the Republican party and make changes there cause the dem's will never give up the abortion of innocents?"

My quick answer is that that is unlikely since they (conservative dems) now and have for almost twenty years controlled the National Democratic Party and its platform. They probably think they are sitting pretty with pro human rights supporter to their left (the liberal dems) and pro human rights supporter to their right (the liberal reps). As I have explained earlier in this blog, the pro human rights (and anti abortion) position is inherently liberal. The support of inherent human rights is the essence of the liberal idea in politics. The championing of the rights of the weak (usually a minority) against the power of the strong has always tagged one as a liberal.

Of course my sister's reaction is not unusual. On Thursday during my lunch break I watched and listened to the speakers at the Right To Life March in Washington. I was struck by the optimism expressed about our new president. There was an almost universal request for prayers for his success. As I indicated yesterday he apparently convinced many of his sincerity about reducing abortions. I pray that his pitch was genuine.

When my republican coworker picked me up after lunch I was therefore overflowing with the excitement of seeing so many human rights supporters present in Washington and for the first time in a long time at least a couple of democratic based groups participated. My coworker appeared baffled when I told him that Human Rights support was an inherently liberal position. He felt that you could not be a democrat and be pro-life. One needed to be a republican to be pro-life. I ,of course, said that to be pro-life was to be liberal, a truth he was not prepared to hear.


On Friday I had lunch with a democratic friend who shares many of my values except she is willing to tolerate the human rights violation inherent in abortion. Her view is that the pro human right position on this issue is anti choice (note small letters) , choice being a liberal position in her perspective. She, like my republican associate, was certain that this issue divides us democrats and republicans. Here is a major part of the continuing human rights standoff on this issue.

The political parties have been complicit in labelling the two sides to suit their own agenda which is not human rights but getting and retaining power. PRO CHOICE and PRO-LIFE (note capital Letters) sides are emphatically neither. I acknowledge that there may be some on the Pro-Choice side that are truly anti-life and there may be some on the Pro-Life side that are truly anti-choice but the vast majority on either side are neither yet have been convinced that the other group is. How sad we have let ourselves be so exploited.

The pro-choice persons I know appear genuine in their desire that abortions be reduced and avoided yet have been convinced that pro-life persons are anti-choice. Being on the human rights side of the issue I am more familiar with the pro-lifers none of whom are anti-choice (please note the lower case!) yet have been convinced that pro-choice persons are anti-life.

The world view of the main pro-life movement cannot be anti-choice since choice is the very characteristic that sets such a high value on being human! In technical terms "choice" means a uniquely human freedom made up of two parts, "free will" and "conscience".

A second fear I hear often from pro-choice persons is that the pro-life position is one of judgement and condemnation and not love. This likewise is illogical since while the pro-life movement is not exclusively Christian its large Christian contingent is explicitly taught by its founder to not judge others, to be loving, merciful and forgiving. This fact should allay any such fear among the pro-choicers. For proof watch or listen to the many voices last week who spoke at the march for life, men and women who had abortions or paid for abortions. Note the almost universal praying for our new president who has yet to demonstrate adequate human rights support and for their pro-choice bothers and sisters.

In some sense politics is a continuum yet it can also be gerrymandered. On the issue of human rights the politicians have fragmented and made us impotent.

The abortion issue will not go away in part because the idealists have been artificially fragmented and pitted agianst each other distracting us from the shinanigans of the politically powerful. This year we have taken the bull by the horns and made a break with this pattern. Let us truly and honestly talk together and heal this breech so that the cure truly happens.


Theoretical:

(& simplistic)

Left -----------------------------------------------------Right
Liberal -----------------------------------------Conservative
Democrat ------------------------------------------Republican
ACTUAL:Liberal (Shunned)/ ~ ~ /Democrats (In Power)/ ~ ~ /Liberal (Tolerated)/ ~ ~ /Republicans (in Power)
LaborMiddle ClassSmall BusinessBig Business
Human RightsHuman Rights
IdealisticUtilitarianIdealisticUtilitarian

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