Procruste's Magical Bed

Procruste's Magical Bed

From time to time I take time to comment on articles in on-line newspapers such as the Washington Post.  Abortion is one of the topics where I usually end up in a back and forth discussion with someone that goes by pseudonym, “GentlySmilingJaws.”  She is a passionate supporter of the right to abortion and her main arguments come to down these convictions:

  1. A woman cannot be fully autonomous or free if she does not have complete control over her own body.  Forced pregnancy is enslavement.

  2. Sex is intended for either pleasure, intimate bonding of two committed couples OR (not AND) creating life.  There is no responsibility for the naturally designed consequences of sex.  You choose to have sex without consequences and then whether or not to remain pregnant afterward.

  3. The baby does not become living or human until she or he exits the birth canal, so there is no other living human being involved in an abortion decision and abortion does not end the life of a real living human being but only a potential human being.

  4. Even if there were another living human being involved, no one has the right to force themselves on a woman to use her body, and the woman's right to control her own body is superior to the rights or life of someone using her body – similar to forced organ donation.  The idea that there is some responsibility for making the original decision to create a life that would be dependent is unreasonable.

  1. A woman cannot be fully autonomous or free if she does not have complete control over her own body.  Forced pregnancy is enslavement.

  2. Sex is not intended for both intimate bonding of two committed couples AND creating life.  Sex is for pleasure and there is no responsibility for the naturally designed consequences of sex.  You choose to have sex without consequences and whether or not to remain pregnant afterward.

  3. The baby does not become living or human until she or he exits the birth canal, so there is no other living human being involved in an abortion.

  4. Even if there were another living human being involved, no one has the right to force themselves on a woman to use her body, and the woman's right to control her own body is superior to the rights or life of someone using her body – similar to forced organ donation.

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March for Science - let's take a poll

March for Science - let's take a poll

Science is one of the greatest endeavors women and men have ever engaged in.   Objective efforts to discover the incredible complexity and beauty of the universe have been nothing less than breathtaking in the advancements from space to the smallest building blocks of life.  Science is good but science overly mixed with politics and misleading information can be very bad.  We need to trust the objective integrity of science vs forcing people to parse the information given to yield an ideological result.  I think it has been a step back for science with scientists and non-scientists alike simply ask questions or want to verify the results.  When scientists are mocked, censured and punished for introducing information or even debate into what should be a robust discussion on important issues, it looks more like winning at all costs vs science- even when you feel really strong about the answer you believe to be true.

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The Mouth of Truth

The Mouth of Truth

If you have never seen the movie, Roman Holiday, with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, it is worth checking out.  Gregory Peck plays a paparazzi type American reporter in Rome who happens upon a young princess, Audrey Hepburn, who wants to be free from her real identify to experience a day in Rome.  One of my favorite scenes takes place at the Boca Della Veritae (Mouth of Truth), an ancient stone near the entrance of an old church.  Peck explains the legend to Hepburn, telling her that if a liar puts his hand inside the mouth, it would be bitten off while a truthful person would have nothing to fear.  Who wouldn’t be tentative to put their own hand in that mouth?

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