A little stream of consciousness from me today….
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| …or off with their heads! |
"Every child a wanted child" has to be one of the more insidious pro-abortion slogans.
Think about this silly little euphemism for a second.
There are only two ways to ensure a child's "wantedness":
1) We start wanting the children we create.
or
2) We kill all the unwanted children.
The first option is the choice to love.
The second option is the choice to kill.
Voilà! Both options will leave us with only "wanted" children!
Since the unborn child is helpless and has no way of remedying his "unwanted"/"wanted" status, the "unwantedness" or "wantedness" of a child falls, 100% of the time, on the adults around him, including the adults who made him in the first place (the parents), the adults around those parents, and the adults in society at large.
The Culture of Life's solution is love, and the Culture of Death's solution is, of course, death.
But let's go with the fun little slogan for a moment, and expand it. How about, "Every woman a wanted woman"? The rest of you will be shot at dawn! Too bad for you -- you should have been wanted, heh heh heh. Maybe "every Jew a wanted Jew"? Wait, someone in the 1940s already thought of that one. Oh, sorry, I'm sooooo out of line there.
Back to the original: "Every child a wanted child."
Let's revisit the premise. So what if a child is unwanted (i.e., unloved) by others? Since when do we have the right to kill those who are unloved and unwanted? Isn't our own humanity measured by how we treat those who are the least popular, the biggest outcasts, the most despised? What the hell kind of culture kills its unwanted?
And what does it say to the children of a culture when they hear slogans proclaiming that they must be "wanted" or else they are not even worthy of life itself?
Thank God that Catholicism teaches the polar opposite of the evil pro-"choice" slogan above. "Wantedness" has never been the measure of a human being's worth, nor a requirement for being allowed to stay alive.
Blech, I can't even think of a more sickening way to measure someone's value than if other people "want" him. If we don't want a piece of clothing or furniture anymore, we get rid of it. But we don't do that with human beings. At least not in my world.
I'm going to challenge the ghoulish slogan above with the following antidotes:Since the unborn child is helpless and has no way of remedying his "unwanted"/"wanted" status, the "unwantedness" or "wantedness" of a child falls, 100% of the time, on the adults around him, including the adults who made him in the first place (the parents), the adults around those parents, and the adults in society at large.
The Culture of Life's solution is love, and the Culture of Death's solution is, of course, death.
But let's go with the fun little slogan for a moment, and expand it. How about, "Every woman a wanted woman"? The rest of you will be shot at dawn! Too bad for you -- you should have been wanted, heh heh heh. Maybe "every Jew a wanted Jew"? Wait, someone in the 1940s already thought of that one. Oh, sorry, I'm sooooo out of line there.
Back to the original: "Every child a wanted child."
Let's revisit the premise. So what if a child is unwanted (i.e., unloved) by others? Since when do we have the right to kill those who are unloved and unwanted? Isn't our own humanity measured by how we treat those who are the least popular, the biggest outcasts, the most despised? What the hell kind of culture kills its unwanted?
And what does it say to the children of a culture when they hear slogans proclaiming that they must be "wanted" or else they are not even worthy of life itself?
Thank God that Catholicism teaches the polar opposite of the evil pro-"choice" slogan above. "Wantedness" has never been the measure of a human being's worth, nor a requirement for being allowed to stay alive.
Blech, I can't even think of a more sickening way to measure someone's value than if other people "want" him. If we don't want a piece of clothing or furniture anymore, we get rid of it. But we don't do that with human beings. At least not in my world.
Every child is a wanted child.
Every child is intrinsically valuable.
Every child is infinitely lovable.
Every child is made in the image and likeness of God.
And as for these idiocies…
...don't even get me started!!
Every child is intrinsically valuable.
Every child is infinitely lovable.
Every child is made in the image and likeness of God.
Imagine a world where we live and teach those truths!
"Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget you." -- God
And as for these idiocies…
...don't even get me started!!
Leila, I think I just fell in love with you a little bit. Or we were separated at birth somehow...I swear you just read my mind!! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThey don't make sense, and that's one reason more and more people are becoming pro-life.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell kind of culture kills its unwanted?
^^^ That's what I want on my bumper sticker.
Thanks for preaching it!!! I cringe every time I see those stupid bumper stickers because my little kids can read now and they'll want to know why someone is stating the obvious.
Thank you for this! I always tear up when I see those signs. Being one of those "unwanted" children myself it is very disturbing to think that there are people out there who think it would have been better for me to have been "taken care of" than allowed to live and that there wasn't any intrinsic value to my life. I think my own husband and children would agree that there was and is value to my life and they are glad my birthmother gave me up instead of getting rid of me.
ReplyDeleteAlong those lines, a few pro-choice organizations have been speaking out against sex-selective abortion in the last few weeks - in light of Chen Guadong's plight recently. But I always want to argue... isn't that their choice? If you value their choice, then what matters about the motivation? If you apply their ridiculous bumper sticker logic then you have to respect if they want to murder their daughters because a daughter won't support them. They just hope they are bullies enough that people won't follow the logic through.
ReplyDeleteAnd you don't hear them fighting against disability-selective abortion so they are hypocritical to criticize sex-selective. So much for their 'compassion'.
I just imploded mentally. What can you say in the face of such sheer stupidity except, "That is really stupid logic"?
ReplyDeleteGood point, Monica!
ReplyDeleteI was also, of course, thinking of the more obvious rebuttal to that unwantedness pro-choice argument... every child IS a wanted child - just maybe not by its birthmother. I assure you that every. single. last. one. of those children is wanted by me, though!!! (And an incredibly vast number of other women who feel called to adopt.)
I wonder if these same defenders of "choice" would be ok with someone sporting the slogan "Every pet a wanted pet" in defense of animal cruelty and abandonment. If not, why not? It's that person's house, after all! It's THEIR pet, not yours to offer to adopt from them. Am I right?
That slogan is an absurd statement. No doubt. What that slogan is most guilty of, is what I call the "Johnathan Swift, Modest Proposal Paradox". That is, rebranding a morally-repugnant solution to a problem as desirable because it is convenient and "works" to get rid of the "problem".
ReplyDeleteYep. You nailed it Leila.
ReplyDeleteCarla
I want that bumper sticker too, Stacy. Maybe Leila should open up a cafepress store with Little Catholic Bubble swag. ;)
ReplyDeleteThose pro-choice buttons are stupid.
ReplyDeleteTCIE - great pet analogy!
ReplyDeleteLeila, We must be on the same wavelength. I was just thinking about that concept the other day. My brother in law is a fireman. When First Responders arrive on the scene of a car accident, and they find that the victims on one end are a family of 4 and the other end is a homeless man, they don't calculate that the family is probably wanted by others and the homeless man isn't, thus leaving the homeless man to die so they can save the family. They attempt to save EVERYONE's lives. Can you imagine a culture in which even First Responders decided who lived and who died based on who was probably wanted more? Most pro-aborts would probably be "horrified" at the thought. But why is it different with unborn babies?? Hypocrites.
Leila, I'm with Stacy! "What the hell kind of culture kills its unwanted?" I want that bumper sticker, too!
ReplyDeleteWhen I see that stupid sign, "Against abortion? Don't have one." I just want to scream, "Don't want a baby? Don't have sex!"
When I was a young teen I was sure that I had been a "mistake" because there is an almost ten-year difference in ages between myself and my older and only sibling. What I didn't know was that my parents had suffered secondary infertility for most of those 10 years. They had actually given up trying when my mom got pregnant with me.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite episode of the show Roseanne during the time was when Roseanne thought she might be pregnant and Darlene told DJ that he had been an unplanned "mistake". DJ of course gets really upset at this idea. But Roseanne tells him that he wasn't a mistake; he was a surprise. He was something that she didn't know that she wanted until she got him.
Being two-thirds of the way through my second surprise pregnancy, this has really resonated with me after all these years. And that's part of what makes a abortion so sad. God is trying to give these women a wonderful surprise, even sometimes in spite of their sins, and they are throwing their children away before they give themselves the chance to realize what a gift they have been given.
And I totally want that bumper sticker, too!!!
Animals leave their unwanted (babies with problems) for the predators, not people (Except that those types usually think that we're just smart apes so it fits.). Abortion is pure selfishness couched in nice psychological terms.
ReplyDeletePlease someone make that bumper sticker because I will put it on my car!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post! It's awesome as always.
I'd love for you to "get started" on those other slogans. That was awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteKara, I was thinking the same thing! Get started, Leila! Especially if you are going to come up with things like "Every woman a wanted woman." Way too funny and I am very tempted to have that made into a bumper sticker for my car!
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious side, I want to state that it makes me sad for adopted children to be thought of as "unwanted". On the one side, I know that at the moment that a couple is rejoicing over the gift of their adopted child, there is a woman who is heartbroken that she could not provide what her child needed and had to separate from that child for the baby's benefit. It isn't really fair to say she just didn't want that child. Also, it must be kind of neat to know that while only one couple adopted you, thousands of others wish they could have. I'm just sayin', but it's important to remember that.
I guess I'm really dense because whenever I saw that slogan, I always assumed it was an anti-abortion slogan ... as in, "Every child IS a wanted child." I had no idea it was supposed to be pro-abortion. I'm not really getting what they think they mean by that!
ReplyDelete"And that's part of what makes a abortion so sad. God is trying to give these women a wonderful surprise, even sometimes in spite of their sins, and they are throwing their children away before they give themselves the chance to realize what a gift they have been given."
ReplyDeleteSo perfectly said, rdcobb! That is what I was thinking, in less clear terms, when I read the story Leila linked the other day, about the 14 year old who was looking for money for an abortion. Every child is a gift and we are so blind to it!
Guys, thanks for the great comments! You know, I should really put in this caveat, based on what Sharon wisely said:
ReplyDeleteAdopted children would be those that I consider incredibly "wanted". Not only did their birth mom not abort them, but society's other adults stepped up to love them and want them! Perfect example of how we "want" all children (even if in fact the birth mom actually did not "want" them; some birth moms desperately do want to raise their child but just can't). As for moms who abort: Many of those (most, according to some stats) are coerced and pressured to get the abortion. That is a real tragedy, when even a "wanted" child is aborted.
So, my ire in all my abortion posts is always directed straight to the abortion lobby, the abortion industry, the abortion advocacy groups and the abortionists themselves. I would never want to pile on those women who are devastated by their own abortions and have to live with that pain (see the recent post by a mom in pain, here:
http://littlecatholicbubble.blogspot.com/2012/05/fifteen-years-later-and-silent-no-more.html
(And, those would be fun bumper stickers, ha ha!)
My goodness, what's with all my typos and bad formatting? Ten people living in the house this summer, everything is rushed…. ack!
DeleteOne more post - at least before lunch :) - I want to throw this in, in honor of my Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill was not wealthy but was generous to everyone (sometimes to his wife's chagrin, as when she went to take the Thanksgiving turkey out of the oven and found out Uncle Bill had gone to give it to a family that had nothing to eat - my aunt served hot dogs for dinner, really!) Uncle Bill said "Every baby is a cause for celebration, no matter how they got here!" I am certain that God agrees, even while He urges us to strive to bring children into the world in the best way possible.
ReplyDeleteJust thinking. How about: "Every feminist a wanted feminist"? Ha ha, just kidding; I don't think the feminists would like that one as much as their original. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteAnd if someone knows how to make "What the hell kind of culture kills its unwanted?" into something that looks like a bumper sticker (and can be put on a facebook), that would be so cool! Just email it to me! :) (Grammar Nazi warning: No apostrophe in "its")
Sharon, God bless Uncle Bill!!
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading Mother Teresa's letters in Come Be My Light, and some of her speeches are in there. In her speech when she received the Nobel Peace Prize, she talked about abortion being the greatest poverty. And she said something that *sounds* like the old feminist bromide, but listen to Mother: "Let us ensure this year that we make every single child, born and unborn, wanted...have we really made the children wanted." So she's saying Every child should be a wanted child--get busy wanting them, all of you! And if you don't want them, I DO!
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice before I posted that Danielle basically made the same point. Hey Danielle, you and MT--great minds think alike!
DeleteI've been thinking this for years. One must seriously do mental gymnastics to avoid the common sense of pro-life thinking.
ReplyDeleteIt makes you wonder how the pro-choice lobby might interpret "no child left behind!" Woulld they shoot the strugglers?!
ReplyDeleteIt would get rid of many problems, right? Those strugglers are so inconvenient.
DeleteTonia, you did the impossible: You made me laugh out loud!
ReplyDeleteoh wow, whenever I read your blogs I breathe a sigh of relief, finally someone who is NOT crazy! :)
ReplyDeleteHa ha, "every feminist a wanted feminist." Love it.
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Leila!! I'm praying for your succinctness when I attend my family reunion this summer with my 7 kids in tow. Many of my relatives are pro-abortion. I know a debate will ensue. I usually become to passionate to debate well. Come, Holy Spirit, Come! Btw, I've been thinking about your sister. I hope she is well. :D
ReplyDeleteugagal, thank you for asking! Her "advanced pancreatic cancer" diagnosis was a MISdiagnosis! After 3 months of exorbitant testing and pain and shock (and terror for all of us), she had surgery which was conclusive: NO cancer! Praise God! Thank you for your prayers! And, good luck with your family reunion!
ReplyDeleteSo happy and relieved to hear of your sister's wonderful news, Leila!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a relief!! Praise be to God.
LOVED THIS POST! I emailed it to a BUNCH of friends and family I loved it so much.
With contraception available to all, and abortion as a back up, surely by now every child actually born is wanted. My question is, if all these children are so wanted, why does my city news report on child abuse, child death at the hands of parents or caretakers nearly every single week? Surely these wanted children would be cherished and protected. Obviously, being "wanted" is not insurance from mistreatment. There is a deeper malevolence here. When children are not valued for their own sake, all children are at greater risk.
ReplyDeleteLifeHopes, thank you! And Xopher, that is an astute observation that the left seems to gloss right over…
ReplyDeleteLeila, So happy to hear the fantastic news about your sister. What a relief. God is so good!!! I'll keep you posted on the family reunion. :D
ReplyDeleteI don't think the left glosses over child abuse. Indeed, people I know who favor the availability of abortion do so in part because they feel that children born to women who don't want them are more likely to be abused. The idea that the "unwanted child" problem can be solved through adoption is not realistic, in my opinion. There are women out there who would rather have an abortion than place a child for adoption, and there are women who would rather keep a child they didn't want than place that child for adoption. I am not defending any of these ideas or actions, but the idea that "the left" (which is not, by the way, any more of a monolith than "the right" is, as there are people, such as me, who consider themselves liberal but don't march in lockstep with every liberal idea) doesn't value children or glosses over their suffering is not true. Many liberals I know actually feel that it is the right who doesn't value children, as they "demand" that they be born but then want to eliminate social programs to help them. These types of misunderstandings come when people don't communicate with each other because they are stuck behind a wall of preconceived notions.
ReplyDeleteDaneille, I understand. I have been debating "the left" for many years, and I get that no everyone who is liberal holds to all the liberal positions. But there is a general position that we can call "the left" in America.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I am certain that I didn't say that the left "glosses over" child abuse. In fact, most liberals rightly are horrified by child abuse (against born children). But here's the issue: Part of how abortion was sold to America was the idea that abortion would eliminate child abuse, because, of course, "every child will be a wanted child!" That is bunk, as we have seen the abuse rates rise right along with the abortion rates. Common sense tells us that when you cheapen any human life (i.e., the unborn), you cheapen all human life. The rise of child abuse in this nation (instead of the promised decline) did not surprise any pro-life folks.
Of course, the breakdown of marriage and family came right up alongside the rest of the decline, and none of that (as we've seen) has been or can be fixed by federal programs. But that's a whole other topic. ;)
*not everyone
DeleteAnd this is not directed at you, Daneille, but it's directed at the idea that abortion will reduce child abuse.
ReplyDeleteAbortion IS child abuse.
It's worse than regular ole child abuse, in that it's designed not just to hurt a child, but it's designed to kill a child (that's the goal). And the techniques used are more horrifying than what you see in your average case of child abuse (most "regular" child abuse does not include dismemberment).
So the idea that abortion could help ease child abuse, well, it just makes my brain twist.
One more clarification while I'm here. I am a Catholic before I am a political conservative. So, wherever my Catholic beliefs conflict with a belief of the "political right", I will always go with the Catholic position. :) Catholicism is neither left nor right, it's just Catholic. It so happens that in this time and place, the political ideology that has placed itself against the Church is "the left", on so many issues, and recently more than ever (i.e., the HHS mandate). It's troubling and I hate it, but it doesn't do any good for me to pretend it's not true.
ReplyDeleteLeila, I thought you said a few posts ago that Catholics cannot be socialists?
Deletealso, is there an example you could give me of an issue the conservative right supports that is in conflict with Catholic doctrine?
Well, it's an End n' Means situation. Even if abortion cured all the ills it purports to cure, like child abuse and teen pregnancy, it's still wrong. But we all know it doesn't. It simply de-humanizes the child in the womb, then the child out of the womb, then you get Susan Smith.
ReplyDeleteJust to make it perfectly clear: I am pro-life. I am pro-ALL-life, which is also why I am vegan. I am not debating the wrongness of abortion. It is wrong, plain 'n simple. :)
ReplyDeleteis there an example you could give me of an issue the conservative right supports that is in conflict with Catholic doctrine?
ReplyDeleteTorture, for one.
I would not say that the "conservative right" holds this as a definitive issue, but certainly Catholics are to hold a loving, not hostile, stance to immigrants whether legal or illegal. But again, I would not say that "hostility to illegal immigrants" is a conservative value. Laws that would prohibit the church from feeding or housing illegal immigrants would be staunchly opposed, however!
ReplyDeleteBut on all the "non-negotiables" (clear, crisp, objective), the Democrats have taken an official position in opposition to the Church.
And Miss Gwen, who said anything about Catholics being socialists? Did I give a shout out for socialism somewhere? If I did, I sure didn't mean to! :)
For anyone who missed it, here is a post about the non-negotiables and the Democrats:
ReplyDeletehttp://littlecatholicbubble.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-i-cannot-be-catholic-and-democrat.html
I'll be running it again as we approach this crucial election.
And Miss Gwen, maybe you can answer the question for us: What the hell kind of culture kills its unwanted?
ReplyDeleteI just can't believe those slogans. Blows my mind that people can't see through the smoke and mirrors and realize that killing a child is never the answer to society's problems.
ReplyDelete