tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post4092159173950274800..comments2024-03-06T19:21:15.708-05:00Comments on RealChoice: McCain's pick: A Pro-Life Feminist. Go Sarah!Christina Duniganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04785550737493692252noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-45155182162519601712008-09-01T20:18:00.000-04:002008-09-01T20:18:00.000-04:00Down’s children (and eventually those with other g...<I>Down’s children (and eventually those with other genetic disorders) will increasingly become symbols of faith – a freak show meant to communicate the “family values” of their parents.</I><BR/><BR/>In other words, you don't believe that those children have any inherent worth as human beings, that the only reason to give birth to them is as a means of doing some sort of penance.<BR/><BR/>You're not bigoted, are you?Christina Duniganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04785550737493692252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-61144258707315789322008-09-01T11:49:00.000-04:002008-09-01T11:49:00.000-04:00There are no words to express my complete baffleme...There are no words to express my complete bafflement at statements like the one above.My only recourse it to continue to pray for the conversion of hearts for people who believe like this. That the only life worth living is a "perfect" life. How unutterably selfish a position to take. I'm sorry that you feel harmed or violated in someway by having to view these "freak shows". Thank God their parents and all who meet them and get to know them see past their physical and mental limitations to the core of unadulterated love and kindness that they show to everyone...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-46376942115254404382008-08-31T21:38:00.000-04:002008-08-31T21:38:00.000-04:00Whereas previously, a Down’s child could be born w...Whereas previously, a Down’s child could be born without the prior knowledge of the mother, going forward, a parent with a Down’s child will likely have made a conscious choice to have that child. As prenatal testing for trisomy 21 becomes ubiquitous, Down’s children (and eventually those with other genetic disorders) will increasingly become symbols of faith – a freak show meant to communicate the “family values” of their parents. The children will become public sacrifices made by their parents for their faith. They will be a symbol of religious reverence in the same way as the scarred backs of Catholics who flagellate themselves, or Buddhist monks who set themselves on fire, or Sunni Muslims who mutilate their girl’s genitals or Shiites who bloody their children’s heads with swords. <BR/><BR/>Genuine moral virtues – such as integrity, honesty, and productivity are not useful as evidence of religious virtue. To the extent that their practical benefit is visible to everyone, they do not represent the special domain of religion. To demonstrate religious virtue, it is necessary to sacrifice authentic moral values in favor of “religious” values. The particular object of the sacrifice is not important – there is nothing particularly “biblical” about being prolife (the Christian bible just as easily supports the opposite position.) If Christian fundamentalists decided that cutting of one’s hand sufficed as proof of moral virtue, they would be wrong to do so, but not much more so than the numerous other ways that people find to be self-destructive. <BR/><BR/>What is really vicious about fundamentalists in America is that the prey on the most vulnerable –poor pregnant young girls and women, those dying from painful terminal illnesses, the loved ones of brain-dead patients, — and children afflicted with terrible genetic illnesses. One can at least grasp the moral indifference with which a fundamentalist can force a single young mother to abandon her goals and dreams and condemn her and her child to poverty. But what can we say about a parent that chooses a life of suffering upon their child? If we are morally outraged by child rapists, how should we judge a parent who chooses a lifetime of suffering on their own child?David Vekslerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09056363942505323454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-69531665054704837682008-08-30T19:30:00.000-04:002008-08-30T19:30:00.000-04:00ha ha crazy Glaswegian like my grandmother.Sha ha crazy Glaswegian like my grandmother.<BR/><BR/>SAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-79266928085088878062008-08-30T15:05:00.000-04:002008-08-30T15:05:00.000-04:00Thanx for the info, RS.Thanx for the info, RS.Christina Duniganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04785550737493692252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-68513606705084432752008-08-30T12:06:00.000-04:002008-08-30T12:06:00.000-04:00How surprising is this! Go Christina!!SarahHow surprising is this! <BR/><BR/>Go Christina!!<BR/><BR/>SarahAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-15799367395497592222008-08-29T17:16:00.000-04:002008-08-29T17:16:00.000-04:00This is why violence against women has become a pa...<STRONG>This is why violence against women has become a particularly difficult issue politically.</STRONG><BR><BR/><BR/>Women want safety, but informed women oppose the injustice in the Violence against Women Act.<BR/><BR/>Senator Joe Biden proudly proclaims that he was regularly and severely beaten by his older sister as a child and as an adolescent. This is the same sister that raised his two sons after his wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident.<BR><BR/>Biden has often claimed that the Violence against Women Act is the greatest achievement of his career. He also claims that a woman cannot be a perpetrator of domestic violence, despite the fact that hundreds of studies show that women commit acts of domestic violence as often as, or more often than men. Many studies also show that lesbian women physically attack their intimate partners at least as often as heterosexual men.<BR><BR/>As a result of Biden's Violence against Women Act, the federal government pays states to create laws effectively requiring that men be removed from their homes and families without even an allegation of violence, with no legitimate standards of evidence, when a woman makes a claim that she is afraid.<BR><BR/>Elaine Epstein, president of the Massachusetts Bar Association (1999), has said "the facts have become irrelevant... restraining orders are granted to virtually all who apply. Regarding divorce cases, she states "allegations of abuse are now used for tactical advantage". According to Epstein, who is also a former president of the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association, restraining orders are doled out "like candy" and "in virtually all cases, no notice, meaningful hearing, or impartial weighing of evidence is to be had." <BR><BR/>State restraining order laws are starting to fall because they're unconstitutional. The federal law behind them, written by Joe Biden, is likely to fall as well, not because it isn’t popular, but because it is clearly unconstitutional.<BR><BR/><STRONG>Supporting Documentation</STRONG><BR><BR/>Here are some of the facts regarding Biden's abuse at the hand of his sister. During senate hearings held on December 11, 1990, Biden testified to the abuse.<BR><BR/><A HREF="http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/0503roberts.html" REL="nofollow">www.ifeminists.net</A><BR><BR/>This recent CDC study indicates that women between the ages of 18 and 28 initiate reciprocal violence against their intimate partners about as often as men. It also indicates that women initiate non-reciprocal violence against their intimate partners more than twice as often as men. <BR><A HREF="http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/15/31-a" REL="nofollow"><BR/>pn.psychiatryonline.org</A><BR><BR/>Here is a link to a bibliography of over 200 studies indicating that women are as violent as men in their intimate relationships: <BR><BR/><A HREF="http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm" REL="nofollow">www.csulb.edu</A><BR><BR/>According to the US Department of Justice, women also abuse, neglect and kill their children at significantly higher rates than men. Here’s some of the data on child homicides. <BR><A HREF="http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm04/figure4_2.htm" REL="nofollow"><BR/>www.acf.hhs.gov</A><BR><BR/>Research clearly indicates that lesbian battery is at least as common as heterosexual battery.<BR><A HREF="http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/lesbianrx/factsheet.shtml" REL="nofollow"><BR/>www.musc.edu/vawprevention</A><BR/><A HREF="http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbianhealth/a/DVFactsMyths.htm" REL="nofollow"><BR/>lesbianlife.about.com</A><BR><BR/>Cathy Young reports on the Elaine Epstein quote and the broader issue at Salon.com here: <BR><A HREF="http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/10/25/restraining_orders/" REL="nofollow"><BR/>www.salon.com</A><BR><BR/>and provides in depth analysis here:<BR><A HREF="http://www.iwf.org/files/50c58dda09f16c86b2c652aa047944f6.pdf" REL="nofollow"><BR/>www.iwf.org</A><BR>RShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01695014457917778066noreply@blogger.com