Saving Our Lives & Our Planet

How does one speak of such a heinous thing as what the Bishops of the Catholic Church are calling “infanticide?” Allow me to walk you through the process:

Woman once were able to have control over their bodies and overall health. This was before the Church came around and argued that it was woman’s purpose to remain baby-making machines. To go against such a request from the Church was to go against “God,” himself. No, in this time period before the cruel and unusual dogma of "The Zealot," women took care of women. It was their sacred right as daughters of their mother to work in the field of healing and health. In this era, abortionists were also healers of the town. There were no laws or people stating that to abort a child before the fifth month was murder. In fact, it was seen by many as a healthy choice for women who were victims of rape or had bodies that would not make it through the difficult period of pregnancy. Even woman who simply had too many children because their husband kept them pregnant, were not frowned upon for choosing to terminate a pregnancy to spare the rest of the family from suffering both financially and emotionally. People of the Islamic faith, and other tribal faiths throughout the world, believe the soul enters the body after the fifth month of pregnancy. Some believe it does not enter the body until the day it is actually born. For quite some time, the Church claimed abortion was wrong, but not on the grounds of “infanticide,” on the grounds that the “harlot” women involved would be depriving the biological father of a possible male heir. What??!!!! What about the woman’s life? What about the possible complications, which could lead to death for both Mother and Child? What about the mother’s future? Her wants and needs? When did women become second rate and why? Is it just because a religion says so? Is it just because a man says so?
Somewhere along the way woman lost touch with the natural herbs to help terminate an unwanted pregnancy. They also lost their rights to their bodies. Woman lost their stronghold in the medical field during the “burning times,” when many woman healers were murdered by the Church. Men took over the field and began bargaining with woman who needed abortions. They requested many things, from extra money to sex, as payment for the surgery woman once received safely and cleanly. These were cruel times, when “crude methods” of surgery were used on pregnant women. Often times, no anesthesia was used because the abortionists wanted the women out of their office as soon as possible. The fear of unwanted pregnancies became the fear of the abortionists as well. In the mid 90’s over two hundred medical clinics were bombed in protest of abortion. Zealots began threatening the doctors and their families as well as the women who needed the surgery. Much of this could be avoided if abortion was legalized AND recognized as a necessary part of life, as it once was. But, now there is unscrupulous labeling of abortion as murder without any consideration for the lives outside of the womb. Why is the mother’s, or other lives involved, less important then a tiny, few-celled organism that has yet to truly live? When I say live, I don’t me have a brain and a heartbeat; I mean expressing an intricate personality, a complex past and a promising future. Or, maybe I am just speaking of a deeply feeling, fully functioning person who is sentimental and wise. Why do we leave out the other lives involved when speaking about abortion? Is it ignorance or fear, or maybe both?
This kind of ignorance has reared its ugly head again, in the American society. As a result, many women fear for their life. The fear is not just of the zealots who are killing in the name of God or Hatred. It also stems from the trying period of pregnancy, which many women are not built to endure. Fortunately, writings by ancient women healers have recently been found. In these writings, the healers pass on their knowledge of herbal contraceptives and herbs that can terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester. These ancient healers cared about the women involved, and knew that termination herbs and oral contraceptives were vital to a woman’s health, happiness and future. This, in turn, benefited community, family and environment.
People like to say that those who are pro-abortion are anti-life when in fact it is quite the opposite. As a person who would not be able to endure a pregnancy, I am pro MY LIFE. I also believe that my child would deserve me, as well as do I believe I deserve myself. From what my doctors have told me, with the chronic illness I have, a pregnancy could lead to my death, and a motherless child.
I do not believe that legalization is enough as anti-abortionists have gone to such extremes of violence and murder to prove their point, which is, supposedly, not to murder. Hmmm…is this a bit hypocritical? I have extracted a quote from my link above, which I suggest everybody, especially men, read to get a better understanding of the history of abortion up to present times. The name of this book is Our Bodies, Ourselves For The New Century by the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective. I recommend everyone at least read the chapter on abortion:

“We have learned that legalization is not enough to ensure that abortions will be available to all women who want and need them. In addition to a lack of facilities and trained providers, burdensome legal restrictions, including parental consent or notification laws for minors and mandatory waiting periods, create significant obstacles. A minor who has been refused consent by a parent may have to go through an intimidating and time-consuming judicial hearing. Mandatory waiting periods may require a woman to miss extra days of work because she must go to the clinic not once, but twice, to obtain an abortion. If travel is required, this can make the whole procedure unaffordable. In other words, for millions of women, youth, race, and economic circumstances together with the lack of accessible services--especially for later abortions--translate into daunting barriers, forcing some women to resort to unsafe and illegal abortions and self-abortions”

In case you do not know what “self-abortion” is, it is a dangerous attempt to force a miscarriage, which often leads to death of the mother. This is real, folks! When discussing pregnancy and abortion we are not just talking about the incredibly young life of a zygote! We are talking about the life of the woman and all others involved. My sister, to this day, has not said one “thank you” to me for spending so much of my time and energy on her first child, when I should have been making decent grades in high school. Though it enriched my life to be with my niece, it played a significant part in affecting my grades negatively and I am paying the price now. I was fourteen then and I have spent a great deal of time with children since. I love children and the Earth very much, which is why I believe abortion should stay legalized and should be better understood by our society. This, like the “gay” thing, goes beyond a political issue. I question why it is even on the “political alter” to be judged, at all. It is an extremely personal matter. I cannot even imagine what would happen if I was raped and could not get a legal abortion—the risk I would take, due to the trauma of such an event. These seem unspeakable things, but they are happening whether or not abortion is legalized. Women will always find a way to get an abortion if they truly do not want the child, or if their life is put at risk in carrying one. It IS their right to choose because it is also THEIR life on the line. Of course, many people (i.e. some men or anti-abortionists) may disagree, or see my opinion as hollow because it is coming from a woman. Maybe they will instantly disagree because it is coming from a lesbian or a liberal. To them, I say; put your Self in THAT woman’s shoes. Put yourself in the place of an oppressed, restricted women who needs—NEEDS—that abortion. She needs to terminate that few-celled organism in order to save her established, connected, many-year[ed] life. She wants to stay on Earth with her loved ones, her achievements, and her small but significant moments. Or, perhaps she wants the life of her other children to be healthy and whole. Perhaps a new life would become such a burden that the family couldn’t stay afloat financially, and those children consequently would suffer by the choice to not terminate. Perhaps the woman knows the torment many foster children go through before they are adopted and she doesn’t want that little embryo to endure that torture. There are so many possible scenarios to think about. It is not just about the "dumb" teen who didn’t wear a condom, or the "call girl" who forgot her pill. There are more complex issues within this topic. I would ask that everyone do thorough research on abortion before making a quick, heedless judgment.

Another topic many people choose to ignore in regards to abortion is overpopulation. We have too many people on the planet! There is a pile of trash the size of Texas on Earth. It is incredibly deep and it is floating around in our oceans! I love my family and cherish their lives. I am happy to be here and to know my nieces, sisters and parents. However, I have (and many others I know have) expressed to the earth that I would gladly accept the ending of my life here if it meant that She and all the other creatures could live without the torment of us humans. Many people do not see the damage we are doing to our oceans, land and all the creatures therein. We are so consumed in our lives and our beliefs that we take for granted the earth and abuse it to frailness and barrenness. Many of us ignore or resist this obvious occurrence of the daily depredation and dissolution of the Earth. It is much easier to ignore then to look at because the damage is catastrophic and the suffering is unbearable. Unfortunately, ignoring it only perpetuates the cycle of destruction. It is such a sad thing to me and to many people I know. Often times we find ourselves in tears on the earth’s behalf. Our population has more than doubled in the last 100 years. If we keep going at the rate we are now, we will have no resources left, nor will our animal families. Scientists are already predicting the beginning of the next ice age because of the rapid pace the planet is warming up at, and we are the main cause of this increase in pace! Why are we making so many babies if we care about the future of our children and our planet? These are questions I cannot answer, but I do feel strongly about not making my own children because of the crisis at hand. We are in for a ride over the next 50 years or more. I want to be a part of the healing of Earth and humankind. I believe that requires allowing abortion and recognizing the beauty in it. I believe it requires us to acknowledge overpopulation and take action against its rapid growth. I feel we will witness, as a society and species, the wonder and love given to the Earth and all its life forms (including ourselves) by stepping up and accepting these responsibilities.

Here's That "Gay" Thing Again!

Hmmmm, an enticing argument: Gay marriage. If you could not tell, my critique is a retort to Mr. Toohey’s commentary on gay marriage. Although I agree that marriage should be recognized in all states, I disagree deeply with Toohey’s statement that marriage should be between a man and a woman because the Bible "says so." I also disagree, with proof to follow, that being gay is “a choice.” Let's go back to before the founder fathers--whom, by the way, were Deists and quite unlike today’s Christians. They believed that black people had no souls. Woman were not much to them, either. Women were kind of a “side note” to men. Woman's purpose was to make babies and upkeep the home. However, we can travel back in time even further to a place much more accepting of the gay culture.
Once upon a time, in a land not far away, gay marriage occurred within the ancient religious sects of Judaism. These people and their sects were labeled by the church "Backsliders," because they kept returning to their original form of worship, which was the worship of "Goddess" and her sacred son and daughter. These sacred ceremonies were passed down by their "founding fathers" and practiced regularly up until the time of the Yahwists. Ceremonies between two men and two women go back in history further than Toohey's idea of “traditional marriage.” The ancient Essenians were the dominating sect that practiced gay-marriage, among other sacred ceremonies. Ancient Judaism is just one “place” out of thousands you can research and discover within it a world of lesbianism and homosexuality. Archeologists and Scholars are finding more and more evidence that gays have been around, and in some cultures revered, for a very long time. History is filled with the essence, worship and struggles of gays. In addition, though gay interactions may not appear to be (by some) occurring often in our human world today, they do occur, regularly, in the animal kingdom. Many of those interactions become lifelong relationships, as do their human counterparts.
As our colleague Mollie stated: the Bible has been “mis-interpreted” time and time agian. Toohey states that he does not hate gays, yet he believes they should not be allowed to celebrate there love with divine intention and infusion. Well, he seems to believe that being gay is a choice, too. Yup, I caught that! Though he says “lifestyle” to follow, his first choice of wording is “choice.” Is it a choice for a man to love a woman? No, it is not a choice but it is a feeling. Love is a deep sense of acknowledgment, reverence, and intimacy. Love is not a “choice.” Pick up any psychology book, any study done in the last 10 years and you'll find a treat! Being gay is not a choice. Scientists today are finding more and more evidence pointing towards hormone activity in-utero. The current studies suggest a possible “bath” in hormones during the embryonic stage of development. Some babies are bathed predominantly in either testosterone or estrogen. If a girl baby is bathed more heavily in testosterone, scientists have found it will contribute greatly to her sexual leaning towards other girls, and to the masculinization of her brain. The same applies to boys, if bathed heavily in estrogen. These are the latest theories, and experiments (on rats) being done to discover when sexual orientation is formed and how. However, even if life experiences bring a person to a certain sexual leaning I do not believe it is our place to judge. These are very personal matters that should never have been made so public, but are forced into the media and politics because of narrow minds and closed hearts. Much of this ignorance stems from those who consistently refer to the Bible as a discriminatory cudgel. A cudgel used to separate the masses and keep them battling over centuries.
The controversy of the Bible and its writers still goes on today, while the world continues to evolve passed much of its original discrimination. Re-written over 43 times, and by people who did not practiced the same religion of the characters within the Bible, Scholars and holy-men alike continue to battle out what is real and what is fiction within the seemingly coded pages of this document. Much of it was written to oppress the "pagan" or peasant people of the time, who tended to worship what they called the Goddess, and later, when the Bible became more prominent, continued to worship in secrecy the three Mary's of the Bible. Research the Cathars or Knights Templar. The Inquisition, unfortunately, wiped most of them and their "peace-loving" ways out. Let's move forward to the age of Constantine. We'll skip over "St." Augustine, because he is just a whole other blog!
Constantine and his “merry band of men” threw into the Bible a great deal of significant changes. Many scholars and priests are still uncertain today which portions were written by him and his men. Other portions were written by the Yahwists (they composed the Pentateuch) at around 400AD. Of course, many portions were re-written and manipulated to serve Constantine’s will. He sought to settle a fued between warring religious “tribes” in order to gain more land, and with the land, more power. Regardless of this, the Yahwists had a specific agenda, as did Constantine: power, not love.
But, this is what I am really talking about when I speak of true marriage; Love, and a celebration of that love. Not the ability to procreate or what a book and its authors say a divine union should be. Not a history fraught with violence, prejudice and small minds working solely for individual benefit. I am talking about a movement of grace within the individual and nurtured by something divine between the two involved. It is a movement that cannot be defined and is constantly being challenged by convention because it appears unconventional by America and some other countries’ standards. The love between same-sex couples is just as real, spiritual and awesome as the love between heterosexual couples. You might be amazed, Toohey. Spend some time with a genuine gay couple who have been together for a while. It just might change your mind about gays and their powerful love. The social (family and workplace), and individual benefits that could arise from these realizations and improvements might just be wonderful. Allowing gays to marry (adopt, serve in military, have sex, be protected under law) would create a unity and understanding that may have the power to erase the ill treatment directed towards gays. Maybe even the education system would respond and fewer children would have to suffer the teasing and torment I had growing up.
These unprecedented improvements are real. One can only oppress a people so long before they rebel. Well, that's already happened; Stonewall is a great example of a revolt. On another note, I had my first crush on someone of the same sex when I was 7...lifestyle choice? Please, do not decide on such an intimate issue you have never lived. It is invasive and unjustified. Marriage is such a personal matter, it is insulting to us when it is made public and scrutinized so heavily by those who are not gay or have little understanding as to what being gay really is, and means. No one is asking those opposing gay marriage to marry a gay! We just want the same rights and freedoms as our heterosexual neighbors.
I highly recommend Toohey do some thorough research on gays, gay marriage and the Bible before making such bold assumptions about "choice", influence and the reality of gays in history. Who would choose to be gay in a world that, overall, does not like us? Some even hate us enough to murder us. I think if Mr. Toohey can support his opinion with more facts and less intrapersonal gusto, he may better sway his readers. Also, it will give me an excuse to write another critique! On a more serious note, studies have been done on the theory of gays being shaped by their environment, and are still inconclusive today. Scientists cannot find enough evidence that gays are shaped by their environment and events therein, as too many of them had a wonderful up-bringing in what society views as a perfectly "normal" household. Please, do us gays a favor, and stop making heady assumptions about gays, and stating them as truths. In regards to Toohey's second posting on gays: Not everyone believes we are "born into sin." Statistics today show that less and less people are calling themselves "religious" because they refuse to believe in the dogma of the church, and are seeking a more positive, encompassing way to live. So, perhaps your "God" said "we were born into sin" but, many peoples "God", today, would never say such a thing.