Words from Albert Camus

In the introduction to The Rebel, in a paragraph in which Camus laments "massacres justified by philanthropy," you will find these words:

On the day when crime dons the apparel of innocence -- through a curious transportation peculiar to our times -- it is innocence that is called upon to justify itself.

There's just so much in that snippet, and in the simple observation of "massacres justified by philanthropy." In the US the count is 45 million plus, all in the name of "freedom" and "compassion" for women. And it is those who defend the unborn child -- the most harmless and innocent of all the human family -- who are painted as the monsters, whose motives are presented as inexplicable. The unborn child, often too young and small to even clasp its own hands, is challenged to prove his or her worth and humanity.

I''ve chewed on Camus' words since I first read them nearly twenty years ago. And we'd do well to think hard on them now.