In case I haven't made it clear on this blog, I generally stand to the political right, with a healthy dose of displeasure in most of our politicians on both sides. I have a hard time stomaching many things that the Republican party does and for its close-mindedness and frequent hypocrisy. And when the Utah Republican party platform was read at our last caucus meeting, I had a hard time swallowing all of it. That said, I would rather participate in rectifying my party than disowning it, and so I stick it out, though many with similar views to my own have at this point gone independent.
I preface this post with that to lay the foundation for the discussion I would like to ensue here. I have recently found a cartoon circulating facebook. It features Linus and Lucy from Peanuts. (I'm sure if you google it, you will easily find it.). At the beginning, Lucy states that she is pro-choice. Linus then begins asking if he can choose things - from smoking to owning a gun to drinking large sodas. To each of these, Lucy tells him he cannot make those choices for various reasons. At the end, Linus asks what he CAN choose. Lucy responds that he can choose an abortion.
Now, I understand this cartoon is an obvious hit, and I do not condone slapping each other in the face. I truly appreciate the opinions of others and feel that opinions are like colors - the more colors you have, the more vibrant your painting can be. So I apologize to my liberal friends if you find this cartoon offensive. But I would like to open it up for discussion. Why is it arguably acceptable to restrict things we can put in our bodies, things we put in the environment, etc., but it is not okay to restrict harm to unborn children. Why is there this stark difference in things we should not be able to choose and the things we should?
So this one is open to all my liberal friends. Please share your thoughts and opinions - but please no rants or tirades. Opinions should be supported by reasonable, non-offensive arguments. Comments are moderated only to keep comment-threads from becoming nothing better than the facebook post I drew it from, which consists of more insults than information. So, please, explain, defend, and responsibly argue away!
