Mark Dohle
Well-Known Member
Marco, a good friend of mine thinks along different lines than I do. Also, our belief system is different. Yet, he has helped me a great deal in learning to listen to others who, for the most part, think very differently than I do on Pro-Life issues. Below is a response I gave to one of the participants on Marco's blog.
Pro-life and living in a democratic republic
Thank you, Marcia, for your comment. It is good to be here, I am sort of the odd man out because I am a Christian and pro-life. The reason it is good to be part of this group is because Marco seems to draw people who can share their beliefs in a manner that helps to facilitate communication. Something I fear is becoming rare in this age of instant communication.
To live in a democratic republic is not easy and takes restraint for any kind of listening to happen. I am pro-life but know that the only way abortion can be lessened, and maybe, hopefully, one day become unnecessary, is for our societies to change at a deep level.
Each society has a great deal of good, but there is chaos, ignorance, and outright evil as well. Societies grow, change, and slowly become one thing or another, then change again. When the process becomes unconscious, the results are often catastrophic, and choices are very short-sighted.
I do know that to be pro-life is to honor all lives, and that includes all life in our world, not just human life. To undervalue human life is in the long run detrimental to our relationship with all life. It becomes expendable. We are a long way from that reality, and things will mostly continue to get worse.
Compassion needs to be given to all humans, for we each suffer, and are often confused about what to do. When attacked we become angry and fight back, so again listening is very difficult.
When opposing groups meet, it brings out the worst from both sides which only adds to the confusion and allows stereotyping to grow unchecked. Add to that a popular concept today, that of ‘confirmation bias’, and the situation worsens.
As a Christian, I have my own way of dealing with this situation. We each have to find a way, or we could be rolling towards a precipice that may be the end of our society and end further growth towards having a humane society based on the rights of each human being. I would put there the ‘right to life’ of the life in the womb. It will be a while before that happens. I must live with that, be at peace, and seek to understand the other's position on this complex issue.
I do not help the cause by being pro-life, being angry, cruel, or making harsh judgments on anyone. The actual teaching of Jesus does not advocate violence towards others. This is seldom followed by Christians or anyone. I struggle with it and am not above the fray.
If those who call themselves Christians live our faith, I think our country would be in better shape than it is now. It is a cause of deep shame for me that a country that claimed to be Christian had to be forced to give other races equal rights.
I am however I am not surprised by this state of affairs, since I know what is in my own heart, and to seek to become a loving human being is not a walk in the park. We, I believe are all haunted by our past.
I love Marco because he allows a safe place for all of us to express ourselves. He has broadened my understanding of the inner life of animals, and he makes me think outside the box so to speak.
In any case, we are a long way from the ideal, perhaps we will never reach it, but we must continue to try. Also, do not be surprised by failure, corruption, and the evil we can do. We can only change if we come to the understanding of what each of us is capable of doing if in the right place at the right time, or have grown up in societies that teach their people to hate and not trust.MD