Blessings in Disguise

[vovat]

According to our old money-launderin', deregulatin', bug-sprayin' pal Tom DeLay, Sarah Palin sees babies as blessings, rather than punishments. I'd say an unwanted baby is kind of a strange blessing. I mean, isn't that all a matter of opinion? Some people want kids and others don't. To claim that EVERYONE should see a baby as a good thing, even if they're unwilling or unable to take care of one, is like saying I should see free coffee as a blessing, even though I don't like it. I mean, there are probably more people who do like coffee than don't, right? The main argument used people like DeLay and Palin seems to be, "How could you not want a baby? They're so CUTE!" But hey, some people also think wolves and polar bears are cute, so Palin isn't going to win me over with that kind of argument. A baby can be a blessing OR a curse, depending on the situation. And yet, during her interview with Charlie Gibson, she said that her desire to overturn Roe v. Wade, as well as several other positions, is just her opinion. Well, of course it is, but I think the opinion of someone who has much more potential to appoint a new Supreme Court Justice than most of us is pretty significant. Not to mention that: 1) DeLay's statement about babies doesn't allow for any nuances, and 2) it's really just empty rhetoric. The only thing more annoying than politicians claiming to be "pro-family" is that people are apparently still falling for it.

Comments

[dragonxbait.livejournal.com]

I think it's just a mind game people need to play with themselves if they are going to raise their surprise baby rather than find another alternative (adoption, abortion, what have you). If you decide you are going to parent you damn well better convince yourself it's for the best, because a kid who grows up feeling resented and unwanted (read- me) is going to be a mighty, mighty screwed up kid. It may be hard for people who have done that little bit of self-brainwashing to see any other perspective. Just my thoughts on the matter (and I have a really hard time seeing a baby as a curse, because we are having such a hard time having one- but I am still open minded enough to understand that there are people who think different things than myself).

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's totally unfair to kids to make it clear that you don't want them, and I think that might come out even if the parents DO play such mind games. That's why I think forcing kids on people who don't want them is a greater evil than abortion (and birth control, which some of the "family values" crowd also oppose, is not an evil at all).

[dragonxbait.livejournal.com]

I don't think that most of the anti-abortion, anti-birth control people are actually in favor of forcing kids on people who don't want them, though. They are more of the, find a good christian home for unwanted (or "undeserved") children type. I can almost guarantee that the only adoption agencies (or the vast, vast majority) in this country still doing high pressure, fully closed adoptions are of this philosophical stripe. It's pretty gross.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I don't think that most of the anti-abortion, anti-birth control people are actually in favor of forcing kids on people who don't want them, though.

You might be right, but there do seem to be a fair number of people who think anyone who doesn't want kids is crazy. And some of the more extreme followers of that philosophy probably think that any sex NOT intended for the purposes of procreation is wrong.

[dragonxbait.livejournal.com]

some of the more extreme followers of that philosophy probably think that any sex NOT intended for the purposes of procreation is wrong.

Clearly they are not having enough sex :-P

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Or maybe they're just going by the idea that anything enjoyable is sinful.

[dragonxbait.livejournal.com]

And that, my friend, is the thing I find most disturbing about that brand of faith.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

It seems odd that they're able to win so many people over to that kind of thinking. I guess they think they'll get their rewards in Heaven for denying any form of pleasure on Earth, but you'd think people would be more likely to concentrate on what they know to be real.

[slfcllednowhere.livejournal.com]

Seriously, if it's just your opinion then don't fucking force the rest of us to live by it. Grr.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it sounds pretty simple, but I'm not sure that's a concept your average fundamentalist can understand.